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Olive oil chocolate chip cookie dough truffles. That's a mouthful to say, but an even more delicious mouthful to eat.
Olive oil can be employed in this absolutely gorgeous egg-free (it won't kill you!) cookie dough for an intriguing flavor which becomes all the more seductive when coated in rich dark chocolate.
Go ahead--you deserve it. So does your Valentine.
Learn how to make your own sweet treats and personalize what they say. Recipe here.
Love is...a heart-covered cake.
Or a conversation heart coated cake.
Or a conversation heart cream pie!
Speaking of conversation hearts, did you know you can make your own? It's easy.
Fun to munch: Cupid Crunch.
A valentine sweet: Calabrian Love Knot cookies.
Always romantic: chocolate seduction cake.
Highly adorable: Valentine thumbprint cookies!
A very nice cookie: Red Wine Valentines.
Valentine cupcakes: a tutorial.
Chocolates? Pshaw. Go for the gold with chocolate covered chocolates.
Almond French toast hearts: sweet for the morning after Valentine's day.
Or go Venezuelan and make golfeados, a kind of sticky bun. Yum.
Let's get one thing straight. There is nothing necessary about coating your Valentine's Day chocolates with more chocolate. But oh, does it ever taste good.
The process is really quite simple: melt some chocolate, dip your chocolates in it, and then let them set until solid. You can create a lovely visual by choosing a chocolate coating that complements the chocolates you're dipping: dip dark chocolates in white chocolate for a pretty finish, or coat milk chocolates in dark chocolate for a lovely flavor and visual contrast.
You'll be rewarded with an extremely decadent treat that will melt in your hand, but tastes better when it melts in your mouth.
Image: Cupcake RoyaleIt's that time of year again. That beautiful time of year when Cupcake Royale brings the Deathcake Royale back to the masses, for a limited time only.
As they put it:
DEATHCAKE IS HERE - Seattle's most lovingly lethal cupcake is back – reformulated in a sharable babysize.
In a laboratory explosion of sheer genius, the Cupcake Royale scientists created the cult fave Deathcake Royale: Theo Chocolate decadence fused with Stumptown Espresso Ganache and accessorized with a pinch of fleur de sel.
Personally, while I loved the scale of the big version, the smaller version is still crazy delicious, and probably better for your health. I'll just eat three to make up for the dainty size, ok?
For more, visit the Cupcake Royale website!
So, I am not a celebrity baker. But--I do artwork for celebrity bakers.
It's true. And this Valentine's Day, I had the exquisite pleasure of making life just a little sweeter for the entire family behind Chicago's original purveyor of "punk rock pastry", Bleeding Heart Bakery (mother and father of said family, btw, are the authors of new book Who You Callin' Cupcake: 75 In-Your-Face Recipes that Reinvent the Cupcake
And--full freedom to create pieces with minimal art direction (booyeah!). Here's exactly what I was given as guidance for each piece, and what I came up with:
Can you make me some things for my family for Valentine's Day? I would like to make a print for each member:
Oliver (newborn, first piece of art for his room, he is named after Jamie Oliver): so for this piece, I created a mother and father-cake with a baby-cake surrounded by "real" food...
Sofi (really likes puppies and kitties): for this piece, I created a sort of Eloise-meets-cupcake-meets puppies and kitties piece, pictured top);
Gabe (all about Dr. Who): for this piece, I made a cupcake Dr. Who surrounded by space-type food items;
Vinny (cake decorator): for this piece, I made a Vinny-lookin' cupcake making a tribute to his sweetheart, Michelle!
...and, as the icing on the cake, a piece portraying the whole crew having a food fight.
Best of all? Michelle, who commissioned the pieces, put full trust in me, so she was just as surprised as the rest of the family when she received them! How sweet is that!?
Have a sweet Valentine's Day, everyone!
I'm pretty sure that I can count on on hand the number of people who genuinely love the taste of Conversation Hearts. And that's when I think really hard.
Conversation Heart Cream Pie, however, is a different story.
Believe it or not, letting those sugary-chalky lumps steep in milk before making a cream pie custard filling actually does yield a surprisingly toothsome (if slightly tooth-decaying) pastry product. No, it's not fine dining—it's best described as vanilla cream pudding pie punctuated with melty, pastel sugar cubes—but it goes down much easier than you'd think, especially when crowned with a cloud of freshly whipped cream.
For the full entry, recipe, and more pictures, visit Serious Eats!
Now would be an appropriate time for me to act very high and mighty on the subject of Hello Naomi in a "I discovered her way before the fact" sort of way. After all, she was first featured on CakeSpy over 2 years ago, while she was still a student and baked only as a Flickr-posting hobbyist. But I'm not gonna be like that--I can share.
Of course, awesome like hers couldn't be contained, and now she's moved on to wonderful things including starting her own baking business, and she's also dipped into party planning and works with a company that does invitation design.
And happily, she's offered up a sweet tutorial for Valentine's Day Cupcakes. It's not too late to whip up a batch for your sweetie!
Valentines Day Cupcake Tutorial
Makes 12
What you will need:
Procedure
About the contributor: Naomi was studying her PhD in Computer Engineering when she discovered her love of cake decorating. By posting photos onto the photo sharing website flickr under the user name ‘hello naomi’ she quickly became well known for her original designs and demand quickly grew to the point where she decided to start a business in 2009. Since then she has also ventured into party planning, collaborating with Imprintables invitations to form scissors.paper.cake.
Sure, conversation hearts are a sweet gesture. But are you sending the wrong message?
Do you really want, for instance, to say "text me" to someone from whom you'd rather not receive digital missives, or to downplay your serious crush by leaving it at "U R Special"?
Avoid etiquette blunders and tell them how you really feel by making your own personalized homemade conversation hearts. They're surprisingly easy to make, just as sweet as the store bought kind, and you have the freedom to set the tone you want--whether it's sweet, snarky, or confessional.
Find the full writeup and tutorial over at Serious Eats! Oh, and happy freaking Valentine's Day!
When CakeSpy contributor Sarah of The Hot Cookie sent over the recipe for these cookies, I first saw the light pink hue and sesame seeds in the rolling pictures (below) and thought "sushi cookies!". Well, no, but reading on I learned they were something far more delicious: Red Wine Valentines. Infused with buttery flavor cut with sweet and tart wine, these sweet treats will undoubtedly set the tone for romance--as Sarah wisely says,
Fewer things can be more meaningful than a homemade treat. Whether it's made by your own hands or crafted from an independent bakery, these Red Wine Valentine cookies will spark an interest in your other's eyes.
Red Wine ValentinesAbout the contributor: The Hot Cookie is a small, all-natural cookie company in Indianapolis run by two go-local/pro-green ladies with a thirst for life and a hunger for sweets. All of their two-bite cookies are made in small batches with as many high quality, local, and organic ingredients available.
You can shop here, visit the website here, and keep up to date via their blog!
Don't get me wrong, if someone shows up with a big ol' box of chocolates, I'd never refuse them.
But I might just do happy backflips if someone brought me a Valentine's Day parcel full of flipsides, PieJars, Slab Pie (you may know it from the TV) and -- like, OMG--PiePops (yes, those are pie lollipops, in the Luxirare and Bakerella tradition) from Seattle's High 5 Pie.
Per proprietress and her royal Pie-Ness Dani Cone, there's some sweet stuff going on for Valentine's Day--on the menu will be some romantic
heart-shaped flipsides and Piepops! Yep, those are pie-lollipops! And, we're now going to offer our "as seen on tv" Slab Pie by special order, too! Folks can place a special order this week for Valentine's Day (or whenever they want).
Don't know about you, but I'm certainly giving the pie pictures above the look of love.
High 5 Pies are available at all Fuel Coffee locations; for more information, visithigh5pie.com. Also, keep updated with them via Twitter and their blog, and you can also buy proprietress Dani Cone's awesome book on Northwest coffee culture, Tall Skinny Bitter: Notes from the Center of Coffee Culture
Whew! Is it getting sweet in here, or is it just the newest roster of sweet treats available at Seattle's Sugar Bakery + Cafe? These sweet treats are the perfect gift for your Valentine, or a perfect Valentine gift for yourself!
Valentine's Cookie and Truffle Gift Basket: Filled with fresh cookies, truffles, and other sweet stuff. $20. (Baked Fresh to order)
Valentine's Cookie Decorating and Truffle Making Class: Learn how to decorate fancy schmancy cookies and make chocolate truffles. You'll leave with two gift boxes full of goodies to bring to your sweeties. Two classes available: Kids Class: Thursday February 11th, 5:30-7:30pm. Kids under 18 only. Everybody Class: Friday February 12th, 5:30-7:30pm. Everybody welcome. $45. (Includes 3 boxes of goodies plus treats for yourself!)
Valentine's Cupcakes: Cupcakes are the perfect little treat, especially in our cute little boxes. We vary our flavors daily, but we'll always have our famous truffle filled red velvet with cream cheese frosting. $3.35/ea or $36/dozen (Baked Fresh Every Morning)
Sweetheart Cakes: Special cakes made just for two, available in red velvet with cream cheese frosting or chocolate with ganache or vanilla buttercream. $15. (Includes customized inscription)
For more information, visit Sugar Bakery & Cafe • 1014 Madison Street • Seattle, WA 98104; online at sugarbakerycafe.com.