Channel the masterchef in you and treat your valentine to these gooey eats!
 |
Love strawberries @ krazy for chocolate
Ingredients
- 200g cooking chocolate (like selbourne or callebaut)
- 20-25 whole strawberries
- A few green pistachios (roughly chopped)
Method
Melt chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave, 20 seconds at a time for about a minute, or till the chocolate has melted (can also use double-boiler method). Mix well until smooth. Spread the chocolate evenly over a thick plastic sheet or butter paper. Leave it to set for 10 minutes. Using a medium-sized heart-shaped cookie-cutter, stamp out as many hearts as possible. Set in the fridge for another 10 minutes. Carefully remove each heart with the help of a knife and place them on a serving plate. Place a strawberry on one side of each chocolate heart and some crushed pistachios on the other.
 |
Crepe Valentino @ Amigos
For crepe
Ingredients
- 100g flour
- 25g cocoa powder
- 250ml milk
- 80g sugar
- 50g butter
- 4 eggs
Method
Mix all the ingredients and pass it through a fine strainer. Pour a ladle full of batter on a non-stick pan; cook for two minutes. Have it with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, strawberry coulis and cherry jubilee.
For cherry jubilee
Ingredients
- 100g dark cherries
- 50g sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 25g corn starch
Method
Bring the cherries, water and cinnamon stick to boil and thicken with corn starch.
For strawberry coulis
Ingredients
- 100g fresh strawberries
- 40g sugar
Method
Bring both the ingredients to boil and cook until reduced to half.
 |
Chocolate Bliss@ Mrs Magpie
Ingredients
- For chocolate
- Cupcake batter
- (makes 24 mini or eight large cupcakes)
- 75g unsalted butter
- 60g castor sugar
- 50g brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 25g cocoa powder
- 60g buttermilk
- 80g flour
- ½tsp baking powder
- ¼tsp sodium bicarbonate
- For chocolate frosting
- 100g chocolate
- 100g cream
- Raspberry jam for
- Filling
- Method
For cupcakes
Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius. Brush cupcake moulds with butter. Sift together flour, baking powder and sodium bicarbonate.
Mix cocoa powder and buttermilk in a separate bowl. Whisk butter, both types of sugar and salt in a bowl and then add the egg and mix well. Add the sifted flour mixture. Divide the cocoa mixture in three parts. Add one portion at a time to the cupcake batter, and mix well, till everything is well-blended.
Use a teaspoon or tablespoon (depending on the mould) to place the batter in the mould. Don’t fill it more than two-thirds of the way. Pop it into the oven and bake (15-18 minutes for small ones and 20-23 minutes for large ones).
Method
For frosting
Melt the chocolate partly, either over a bain-marie or in the microwave. Warm the cream till it is steaming but don’t boil. Then pour a little cream into the chocolate and mix well. Repeat this step till the cream has been used up. Let it cool until it thickens.
Check whether the cupcakes are done by inserting a toothpick down the centre. If it comes out clean, it’s ready. Make holes in each of the cupcake and put in the raspberry jam. Put the tops back on and then frost the cupcakes. An easy way to do this is by taking a knife and placing a dollop of the chocolate frosting on top and then gently smoothing it down to cover the tops.
