A super sweet Valentine's Day!

So for a treat to pass out this year for V-day I decided to try something new ( of course) and attempted a Meltaway Meringue Heart Cookie from this awesome blog. Now I have never made meringue, in fact it is on my "to do food list". So I was a little nervous and also since I have never even tried meringue.

It started out simple crushing some peppermint.

Next I attempted making "hard peaks" from an egg white mixture. I am hoping I got it to the right stage, this is what it looked like.

after that I put it in a bag to make it easier to pipe out hearts

here I am trying to have perfect precision, while an 18mo. old is literally hanging on me.

they seemed to turn out pretty good despite the "extra weight"

after I cooked them forever and then let them sit over night, I made some melted chocolate. The recipe didn't say which kind to use so i just used some bittersweet chips and chocolate bars, but it never really set. So I think next time I will try sticking with almond bark.

then I dipped

and dried, like I said earlier it never really set up, and stuck to the wax paper so I decided to make them sandwich cookies. Scraping up the chocolate and smearing it between 2 hearts. Hey work with what you got!

They look pretty cute, right?

My analysis is that I don't love meringues, though I do think they are pretty goo and really different ( also very low in calories).

Meltaway Meringue Heart Cookies (makes 24-30)
Ingredients:
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. C & H white sugar
red food coloring
crushed candy canes (about 1/4 c.)
Melted chocolate (your favorite kind)
Parchment paper or Silpat mat

Directions:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Whip egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in mixer until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and a few drops red food coloring. Beat until stiff peaks form and mixture is smooth and glossy (about 5 minutes).

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat mat. Put mixture in a pastry bag or gallon ziploc bag with a corner snipped off. Pipe out thick hearts (to make them thicker I ended up drawing one heart then another one on top of it) onto your cookie sheet and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Bake at 200 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Then, turn off oven and leave meringues in the oven to completely cool (overnight is best).

Next, melt your favorite chocolate (I used Peters Burgundy) and dip the bottoms of your cookies. Set on wax paper to dry.

When completely set, remove from wax paper and serve! You can also store them in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks.

For Valentines Day I made my family my favorite

Chocolate Chip Heart Pancakes - because every meal on V-day should have a little chocolate!

I always use the recipe from "The Fat Sisters Cookbook" and then add some choc. chips, it is super easy.

Pancakes

1 egg

1 c. milk

2 Tbsp. veg. oil

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sugar ( optional)

Beat egg; add oil and milk and mix. Add dry ingredients and mix until almost smooth.

Here are the Valentine's my boys made last night at "Kids Night Out" at USA gym.

How sweet.

Yes my shaping is terrible.

For my husbands V-day Sweet, I decided on a Red Velvet. ( He loves the Red Velvet cake from Liberty Market so I tried to replicate that) I found a recipe that seemed like it might work.

Here is the Entire bottle of food coloring I dumped into the batter!

Looks "bloody" good right?

Greasing and flouring my pans- to make sure it came out PERFECT

I wanted this cake to turn out so good I even "sifted" which I never do.

Ta DA

How tasty does that look?

Cuz it was GREAT! I hope you all had a Sweet Valentines day as well.

Red Velvet Cake (from the food network)

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil for the pans
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
• Crushed pecans, for garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour 3 (9 by 1 1/2-inch round) cake pans.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.

Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in the oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Remove the cakes from the oven and run a knife around the edges to loosen them from the sides of the pans. One at a time, invert the cakes onto a plate and then re-invert them onto a cooling rack, rounded-sides up. Let cool completely.

Frost the cake. Place 1 layer, rounded-side down, in the middle of a rotating cake stand. Using a palette knife or offset spatula spread some of the cream cheese frosting over the top of the cake. (Spread enough frosting to make a 1/4 to 1/2-inch layer.) Carefully set another layer on top, rounded-side down, and repeat. Top with the remaining layer and cover the entire cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the top with the pecans.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand-held electric mixer in a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and butter on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to high, and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.)

Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to high and mix briefly until fluffy (scrape down the bowl occasionally). Store in the refrigerator until somewhat stiff, before using. May be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days.