The best part of February? Chocolate. Meet some South Shore chocolatiers

With Feb. 14 just around the corner, love is in the air and chocolatiers across the South Shore are cooking up delicious sweets for Valentine's Day. Whether you're alone or with someone on the day of love, chocolates and the holiday go hand in hand.

Local chocolatiers are offering chocolate turtles, bonbons and everything in between. It's precision work. It's also an art.

Purefections in Quincy offers its spin on chocolate turtles

For the last 17 years, Quincy-based Purefections has been cooking up unique chocolate treats and gaining national recognition through appearances on Food Network.

Sisters Christina Bartkus and Lisa Trifone alongside their cousin Marguerite Califano run the operation from a warehouse in Quincy.

“If we didn’t have family, we wouldn’t be here for 17 years,” Lisa said.

Christina comes up with recipes and runs the marketing and Lisa and Marguerite cook and create treats.

Apart from their offerings for Valentine's Day, Purefections has many signature sweets. One is its P2C2, a bar consisting of chocolate, caramel, peanut butter and salty potato chips.

Christina said she created it one day in their old retail shop while bored and hungry.

“Literally it was one day me sitting at the store back in 2006 and I was like, ‘I feel like eating something, what do I like?’” Christina said.

For Valentine's Day, the shop is offering gift boxes and samplers costing from $13 to $140 with many options in between.

The Signature Box, at $60, includes P2C2 chocolate, chocolate-dipped sandwich cookies and Lager Tartarugas, a unique spin on the classic chocolate turtles.

Purefections doesn't have a retail location, but it will be doing pop-ups in the leadup to Valentine's Day, including one at Hancock Appliance in Quincy from Feb. 9-14.

More information is at purefectionschocolate.com.

Scituate’s Sirenetta Seaside Chocolatier offers Valentine’s Day treats

Scituate-based Sirenetta Seaside Chocolatier has been offering sweet treats for more than a decade.

After leaving her corporate job in 2009 at a company in Boston, Danielle Verzone decided to pursue a different path. She took classes at L.A. Burdick in Cambridge and many other places, then started her business, Sirenetta Seaside Chocolatier.

“I left my corporate gig in 2009 to do something I love,” Verzone said.

Handmade ganaches, chocolates and new and creative flavors are among the offerings at the store.

“The recipe development is absolutely my favorite part. The flavors just come out of just loving food in general and thinking about what would pair well,” Verzone said.

Besides chocolate, Sirenetta offers truffles, sea salt caramels and other sea-themed chocolate designs.

For Valentine's Day, Verzone is offering four new flavors: Orange Crush, Pucker Up, Love Potion and Goodnight Sweetheart.

Orange Crush is made of orange curd, dark chocolate, Foret D’Oranges liqueur and candied orange peel garnish. Pucker Up includes key lime, white chocolate, dark chocolate and a lime sparkle garnish. Love Potion has absinthe and dark chocolate, while Goodnight Sweetheart is made of chamomile tea, cardamom, a milk chocolate ganache and bourbon.

Sirenetta is offering packages with prices ranging from $10 for a four-piece package to $40 for an 18-piece package. For more information, visit sirenettachocolatier.com.

Stuzzi Sweet Shop & Cafe brings a new taste to town

Newly opened Stuzzi Sweet Shop & Cafe in Plymouth offers more than just chocolate.

Coffee, gelato, penny candy and more is on display at the shop inside the Pinehills Village Green. Owned by wife-and-husband duo Christina and Dave Bunda, the idea for this store came to them during an event at the Pinehills.

“I always wanted a candy shop. I have such good memories from when I was a kid,” Christina said. “I just wanted to be that place for people.”

Although the store is new, the response has been overwhelming, they said.

“We have gotten an amazing response from the community," she said. "They've been supportive, welcoming, excited.”

Homemade marshmallows made by Dave include vanilla, chocolate, lemon, orange cream and peppermint.

While Dave helps around the store and makes the marshmallows, Christina is busy concocting new flavors and chocolates.

For this Valentine's Day, the store is offering chocolate-covered strawberries among other sweets. Handmade heart-shaped bonbons with flavors such as passion fruit, raspberry, strawberry fig and others will be available.

“One of the cool things about chocolate is that you can eat your mistakes,” Christina Bunda said.

At the store, chocolates are priced by weight instead of the number of pieces, with a pound of chocolates coming in at $80 or between $2 and $2.50 per piece.

For more information, visit stuzzi.co.

Kilwins brings the hearts and the chocolates to Valentine’s Day

Opened three years ago by Mark Zipeto, this Kilwins location is one of many ranging from Colorado to New Hampshire. Kilwins started in Michigan in 1947.

Today the chain has locations across the country. In Massachusetts, there are two − one in Hyannis and the other in Plymouth. Zipeto opened the Plymouth store during the pandemic, a tough time for many businesses.

“It was a scary time to open before vaccines, but ultimately this was something safe that people could come do. When people were still afraid to sit in a restaurant and eat, they could come into a candy shop or an ice cream shop and get something to go outside and eat it,” Zipeto said.

Many products are offered at Kilwins, including caramel apples, brittle, caramels and nutcracker sweets.

Valentine’s Day boxes ranging from 3 to 20 ounces cost $15 to $65.

Valentine’s Day milk chocolate caramel apples and chocolate-covered strawberries are also for sale.

Kilwins is at 150 Water St., Unit 101, Plymouth, and is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Fedele’s Chocolates offers sweets for everyone

Fedele’s has been serving up sweet chocolates for South Shore residents for more than 36 years. Selling fudge, chocolates and more, the store has been a staple of the area with locations in Pembroke and Plymouth.

For this Valentine's Day, the store is offering a range of products, from chocolate boxes to dipped strawberries. Long-stemmed chocolate-dipped strawberries are available for preorder until Feb. 13.

Milk, dark and white chocolate-dipped strawberries will be available from Feb. 10-14.

Heart-shaped chocolate boxes ranging from $23.95 to $50.95 are also available.

For more information, visit fedeleschocolates.com.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Where to get your Valentine's Day chocolates near Quincy