From computer science to sweet science

Chocolate South — Chocolate boutique with small batch handcrafted confections. Flavors include Peanut Bark, Key Lime, Peach Tea, Mississippi Mud, Honey Ginger. 1050 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-815-8859, chocolatesouth.com.

M Chocolat — Made in-house from scratch with fresh herbs, fruits and purees. Styles include Creamy Centers, Ganaches, Truffles, Salted Caramels, and Chocolate Covered Nuts. 3960 Old Milton Parkway, Alpharetta. 770-777-1780, mchocolat.com.

The Chocolaterie — Hand-painted artisan chocolates and truffles, plus fudge, chocolate bars and specialty gifts. Flavors include Key Lime Pie, Fresh Strawberry Delirium, Delicate Lemon Blossom, Mocha Cheesecake. 410 Peachtree Parkway, Cumming. 678-513-2700, thechocolaterie.com.

There’s no doubt. The week before Valentine’s Day is heavy-duty crunch time for husband-and wife-chocolatiers Michael and Elizabeth Ashworth, who own and operate the Chocolaterie in Cumming.

But one recent morning, as Michael emerged from the hermetic kitchen where his signature hand-painted truffles are hatched and joined Elizabeth at a cafe table at the front of the shop, the couple acted like they were out on a date.

Asked if working so hard this time of year takes the romance out of their Valentine’s celebrations, they looked at each other and shared a giddy laugh.

“My husband just says, ‘Happy Valentine’s Day, honey. Why don’t you just go out there and pick yourself out a few chocolates,’ ” Elizabeth joked. “But I like to say my husband makes a lot of women very happy. And I’m probably the only woman on the planet who can happily say that.”

Like food, wine, coffee and craft beer, chocolate has become much more culturally complicated lately. Beyond the mass-produced stuff found in grocery and drug stores, all manner of artisanal and experimental creations attract ardent connoisseurs.

The Chocolaterie, which is as much stylish boutique as chocolate shop, reflects Elizabeth’s background in interior and fashion design. The glass cases are filled with fancy truffles that glitter like jewels, molded in intricate shapes like blossoms, seashells and butterflies, and brightened with bold shimmers of color.

More than a decade ago, the Ashworths started making chocolates for fun. Six years ago, they decided to turn their pastime into a business and opened up in a storefront at the Fountain Square on Peachtree Parkway.

“My background is about as far away as you can get from being a chocolatier,” Michael said. “I have a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon, and I was a management consultant. This really did start as sort of a hobby, but people were so enamored with what we were doing and it grew from there.”

Now Michael works 12-14-hour days, a mad scientist sequestered behind the scenes, guarding the proprietary production techniques and technology he’s perfected while cooking up a huge array of avant-garde flavor combinations. They’re all made with high-quality couverture chocolate, real fruit, nuts, booze and even hot peppers.

“We probably do 25 different techniques now,” he said. “And I’m pretty certain that a number of them are really unique to us. Coming from a research and academic background, you learn how to fail and experiment and then collect more information. It’s creativity, perseverance and a little bit of crazy.”

Among his exotic inventions, there’s the Epicurean, a dark chocolate truffle filled with fig soaked in Southern Comfort, raw almond and dark chocolate fig ganache.

Sunday Brunch contains bits of pancake, butter, bacon and real maple syrup. No Mercy burns with several varieties of the world’s hottest peppers, including the Moruga Scorpion and the Bhut Jolokia “ghost pepper.”

“It is a little bit crazy,” Michael said. “But I think that’s a big part of our success — having that surprising collection of interesting flavors. And they’re all real flavors. That’s why people are surprised.”

“I’m just really proud of what we’ve come up with,” Elizabeth said. “And that we’ve been able to succeed and grow all these years. I think we probably make more different flavors than any chocolaterie in the whole country. And here we are in North Georgia.”