Gooey, melted chocolate dripped from silver spoons inside Lisa Hooper’s warm kitchen on a snowy Monday morning. While she used a small paintbrush to work the thick brown stuff into a gumdrop-shaped mold, the sounds of cartoons floated in from the living room, where her 3-year-old daughter watched television and played with pink, plastic ponies.

A tempering machine vibrated on the countertop, filling the room with a soothing mechanical hum. Before long, the 36-year-old mother and entrepreneur was surrounded by a small crop of bite-sized chocolate truffles, delicate homemade goodies almost too pretty to eat.

Almost.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, local chocolate makers are gearing up for the annual demand of sweet confections and cordials.

Americans love chocolate; we each eat an average of 12 pounds of it every year. It has become synonymous with Valentine’s Day, perhaps because chocolate contains phenylethylamine, the same chemical produced by the brain when people fall in love.

In many ways, chocolate is like love. It’s comforting, exciting and rich. It soothes on a stressful day.

But it can also be complicated, and getting it just right takes patience and perseverance.

“There’s a lot more to it than you would think,” said Hooper, who operates Sarah’s Sweets out of her home in Franklin. The business specializes in gourmet truffles and is named after her candy-loving daughter, who occasionally makes off with goodies from her mother’s workspace.

“Sometimes I’ll find her in the living room with chocolate in her hair,” Hooper said.

Hooper got her start a few years ago whipping up whoopie pies and cranking out no-bake cookies to sell in local convenience stores, but she burned out on baked goods and wanted to try something new.

Her inspiration came in the form of a magazine recipe for turtles. She quickly mastered the chocolate-caramel-nut clusters and moved on to chocolate-covered cherries. Then she set out to make the perfect truffle.

“I started thinking about what the ultimate chocolate is,” she said, “and truffles are it. They are just a small little bite of something very, very rich.”

Truffles originated in France and get their name from the wild fungi of the same name.

For Hooper, making the perfect truffle is a process of at least eight steps. She starts off by melting dark Belgian chocolate in a tempering machine, a device that heats the chocolate to a precise temperature so that it will be smooth and glossy after it cools.

Then she pours the melted chocolate into molds and drains out the excess to give the truffles a thin, crispy shell. Afterward, she fills them with spoonfuls of ganache, a velvety mixture of dark chocolate, cream and flavoring.

She makes eight types of truffles: plain chocolate, toasted coconut, Bing cherry, Kahlua, Chambord, Grand Marnier, Bailey’s Irish Cream and amaretto. But she is always willing to try something new.

“I do milk chocolate, too, but I’ve found that most flavors taste better with dark chocolate,” she said.

Once the filling is in, Hooper spoons more dark chocolate over the centers. Then she shakes the molds to remove any air bubbles and sets them on the counter to cool. Once they’ve hardened, she decorates the tops with white chocolate swirls.

She also makes a kicked-up version of peanut butter cups, which are popular with her husband, Billy. She also has a 14-year-old son, Drew.

Launching the chocolate business has been a challenge for Hooper, who learned to cook by watching her mother make needhams, a traditional coconut-and-potato confection. But things are really starting to take off and her products are available at Frankie’s Cafe in Ellsworth, at Grindstone Neck of Maine in Winter Harbor and by special order.

“I love to make them,” she said. “Every time I do it, I think I do it better. It’s a lot of fun and I really enjoy watching people eat them.”

Wendy Fontaine can be reached at 664-0524 and bdnnews2@downeast.net.

Some Maine chocolate makers

. Lisa Hooper’s chocolates are available at Frankie’s Cafe in Ellsworth, at Grindstone Neck of Maine in Winter Harbor and by special order. For information, call Sarah’s Sweets in Franklin at 565-3635.

. Heather Fowler, a stay-at-home mother of two who owns Exceptional Cakes and Favors in Lamoine, has been making chocolates for a decade. Last year alone, she made hand-dipped 20,000 needhams, her specialty. She also makes peanut butter cups, raspberry truffles other cream-filled confections. Her treats are available now at gift shops throughout Maine and New Hampshire. They are also available online at www.maineneedhams.com. 664-0662.

. At Monica’s Chocolates in Lubec, owner Monica Elliott makes bonbons in five flavors, along with needhams and a variety of truffles. Her most popular sweet could be “sea urchins,” clusters of homemade caramel, toffee, pecans, Peruvian filling and dark chocolate. Her shop is open year-round and is located at 56 Pleasant St.733-4500.

. At Katie’s on the Cove on Route 1 in Robbinston, Lea and Joseph Sullivan make 30 different kinds of chocolates, include 21 varieties of truffles. For Valentine’s Day, they’ll have three special truffles, called “love,” “desire” and “satisfaction. The “satisfaction” truffles, which are made of milk chocolate and Southern Comfort, are the best sellers. For a unique twist, try their mustard truffles. The shop is closed until May but their chocolates are available through the company’s Web site at www.katiesonthecove.com. 454-3297.

. The most popular treat at Bayside Chocolates in Lubec may be the peanut butter cups, according to owner Gene Greenlaw, who grinds his own peanuts to make the homemade filling. He also makes cherry blossoms, or chocolate-covered cherries, and extra-large bonbons wrapped in brightly colored foil. For a unique treat, try the blueberry needhams. Bayside Chocolates are available at Greenlaw’s shop at 37 Water St., through the company’s Web site at www.baysidechocolates.com and at various gift shops and nature foods stores. 733-8880.

. Rebecca Potter uses fruity wine from the Winterport Winery and creamy chocolate to make her specialty, Maine raspberry wine truffles. Potter, owner of B. Potter Wine Chocolates, recently moved to Yarmouth but still sells her cordials at The Grasshopper Shop in Bangor, Bangor Wine & Cheese and the State of Maine Cheese Co. in Rockport. She also takes special orders by e-mail through her Web site, ww.bpwinechocolates.com. 659-0994.

. Jan Campbell, owner of Cakes by Jan in Bangor, sells candy-making supplies and specializes in cakes but she also makes chocolate truffles for Valentine’s Day. Her store is located at 214 Hammond St. For more information, check out her Web site at www.cakesbyjan.com. 947-5155.