Happy February! Is it too soon to think about a Valentine’s Day Dinner? Never! Thinking about food is more than smart planning it should be a lot of fun! Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday which means restaurants will cash in with over- priced meals and the goal of rushing you through your dinner in time to guarantee the next seating. If that doesn’t sound like a ton of fun to you then don’t do it. Plan ahead and have a lovely romantic dinner for your significant other, or a group of friends, or family. I like a menu with some room for splurge that can be mostly put together ahead of time, and enjoyed at a leisurely pace with a glass or two of good wine or champagne – or both. If we went out to dinner and could order anything we wanted, I would get seafood and my husband would pick a steak. We might get a soup or a salad. I’m keeping that in mind for planning and even adding a small appetizer as a surprise course. Here is another problem with restaurant dinning on Valentine’s Day – you always want that decadent dessert but are just too full to enjoy it properly. If you create a meal at home you can pace it so a lovely dessert is the perfect ending to the perfect evening. For my husband it has to include chocolate, but for me it shouldn’t be too heavy and it should be all made and ready to assemble.
With that purpose in mind, I did a “test run” of my idea for a perfect Valentine’s Day dessert – Chocolate Pavlovas with raspberries and a cream topping with orange zest and Chocolate Liquor. That sounds hard to make, but it was easy, I made it all ahead of time – it can keep a day or two. The hardest part right now is trying to decide what to call it- maybe Chocolate Hearts with Cream and Berries? Or it could be Mocha Hearts with Berries and Chocolate Liquor Cream. Whatever the final decision is my husband just absolutely adored it and can’t wait to have this for Valentine’s Day. I gave him half of mine because he looked so very pitiful with his empty plate –practically licked clean. I don’t think you can go wrong with this one!
More ideas later………
Mocha Hearts with Berries and Chocolate & Orange Cream
Mocha Hearts
2 egg whites (save yolks – make Carbonera!)
¼ tsp salt
1/3 c sugar
½ tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
½ tsp vanilla or almond extract
½ tsp vinegar
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In an electric mixer combine egg whites and salt until soft peaks begin to form.
Add sugar and mix to combine.
Add remaining ingredients and mix just to combine.
To make hearts, I put egg mixture in a large zip top bag, snipped a hole in the end and drew two hearts on the parchment paper with the egg mixture. (Picture)
Put pan in the oven and turn temperature down to 200 degrees. Bake 1 ½ to 2 hours until you can almost lift hearts from the paper. Turn oven off and leave hearts in for an hour.
You can store the hearts in an airtight container for a day until ready to use.
Berries
1 c raspberries (or your choice)
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp orange juice
1 Tbsp chocolate or orange liquor (optional)
Mix up to a day ahead and keep covered
Cream
2 Tbsp cream cheese
¼ c heavy cream
Zest of ½ orange
2 Tbsp confectioners sugar
1 Tbsp chocolate liquor (optional)
Mix all ingredients together in electric mixer until thick and smooth. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Will store at least two days.
To assemble: Divide berries and cream between each of the two hearts. Dust with cocoa if desired. Enjoy!
