The month of February is here, and why not spread some love by baking some festive deserts this month. Here are a few cute and creative recipe ideas to try out and make for someone special in your life to show your love for them or just to make for fun!
Recipe #1) Red Velvet Cupcakes
- It's red velvet cake but in miniature form! These adorable bite-sized desserts are great to take to work, school, and on the go!
Yield: 4 generous servings
Time: About 45 minutes
Ingredients
2 pints ripe, well-rinsed strawberries
½ cup sugar, or more to taste
4 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 ¼ cups butter
3 cups whipping cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Pick over and hull strawberries. Cut in half or slice, depending on size. Gently crush about a quarter of the berries with a fork to release their juices. Mix with remaining berries and the 1/2 cup of sugar, adding more sugar if necessary. Set aside, covered, for about half an hour to develop flavor.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Into a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, salt and baking powder. Add 3/4 cup of softened butter, and rub into dry ingredients as for pastry. Add 1 1/4 cups cream, and mix to a soft dough. Knead the dough for one minute on a lightly floured pastry board, then roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut an even number of rounds - 2 rounds per serving.
Use a little of the butter to grease a baking sheet. Place half the rounds on it. Melt remaining butter and brush a little on the rounds; place remaining rounds on top. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven, and pull shortcakes apart. Brush the insides with some of the remaining melted butter.
Beat remaining cream until it thickens. Add vanilla. Beat again just until thick.
Place bottom half of a shortcake on each plate. Top with a generous spoonful of berries. Cover with a top half, add a few more berries and top with whipped cream. Serve immediately.
Recipe #2) Chocolate Covered Strawberries
-A simple and creative recipe for those who want to make a quick dessert in a short amount of time. Decorating these strawberries definitely allows you to express your artistic abilities! Also, they taste just as good as they look!
Yield: 1 pound chocolate covered strawberries
Time: Active- 10 minutes
Total: 1 hour and 5 min
Ingredients
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 pound strawberries with stems (about 20), washed and dried very well
Preparation
Put the semisweet and white chocolates into 2 separate heatproof medium bowls. Fill 2 medium saucepans with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat; set the bowls of chocolate over the water to melt. Stir until smooth. (Alternatively, melt the chocolates in a microwave at half power, for 1 minute, stir and then heat for another minute or until melted.)
Once the chocolates are melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set strawberries on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Dip a fork in the white chocolate and drizzle the white chocolate over the dipped strawberries.
Fun Tip: You can also add a couple of drops of red food coloring into the white chocolate to make it a pink color and add festive sprinkles on top if you like!
Set the strawberries aside until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.
Heart-Shaped Brownies with Raspberry Buttercream
-This dessert takes a spin on the regular chocolate brownie! This cute and yummy sandwich is both fruity and chocolatey and fun to make too!
Yield: 12 Servings
Time: Prep- 45 minutes
Cook- 45 minutes
Total- 1 hour and 30 minutes
Ingredients
1/2 c. unsalted butter, diced
3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
1-1/2 c. sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. instant espresso powder
1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
powdered sugar, to sprinkle on the finished brownie hearts
FOR THE FRESH RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM:
12 oz. raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
3-1/2 c. powdered sugar
pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
for the brownies: Preheat oven to 325° F. Fold a long piece of foil into a 13" wide strip and fit it inside a 9" x 13" metal baking pan, leaving foil overhang on the 2 long sides. Spray the foil lightly with nonstick spray. Set pan aside.
In a large heavy saucepan over very low heat, stir butter and chocolate until everything is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar, and then the eggs, one at a time. Whisk in espresso powder, vanilla, and salt. Then sift the flour over the chocolate mixture and stir to blend well. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake brownies until slightly puffed and dry-looking and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist batter attached, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on rack.
for the fresh raspberry buttercream: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the raspberries, stirring frequently, until the raspberries are broken down into a very loose sauce. Line a fine-mesh strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth, and then pour the raspberry sauce through to remove the seeds. To get all the raspberry juice possible, twist up the ends of the cheesecloth very tightly and press on the raspberry sauce with the backside of a large wooden spoon to extract the juice. Then pour the raspberry juice back in the pot. Simmer until the juice reduces to 1/4 cup. The juice will be very concentrated, deep red in color. Set aside to cool.
With a stand mixer, cream the butter with a paddle attachment on medium high speed about 2 minutes, until butter is lightened in color and a bit fluffy. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar, the 1/4 cup of cooled raspberry sauce, lemon juice, and salt. Mix until smooth. Add another 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Fit a pastry bag with a medium-large round tip and fill with fresh raspberry buttercream.
to create the brownie hearts: Run a knife around the inside edge of the brownie pan. Use the overhanging foil as an aid and gently lift the brownies from the pan. The brownies should be about 1/2" thick, so ensure that your cookie cutter is taller than 1/2". Press heart-shaped cookie cutters (the cookie cutters used in my photos measure 3" wide and 1-1/2" wide) firmly into the cooled brownie. Use a thin metal spatula to lift the cookie cutter filled with brownie from the foil. Gently press the brownie out of the cookie cutter. Repeat the cutting process until your brownie looks like a big piece of Swiss cheese.
With the pastry bag filled with fresh raspberry buttercream, pipe a line of frosting around the inside edge of one of the brownie hearts. Then fill in the inside of the line with frosting, too. Top with another brownie heart, gently pressing down to make a sandwich. Repeat until all your brownie hearts are completed.
To finish, sprinkle the brownie hearts with powdered sugar.
Strawberry Shortcake
- Light fluffy and strawberry goodness! This dessert is too good to not make! The sweet strawberry flavor and soft cake texture is such a yummy treat that anyone will enjoy.
Yield: 9 servings
Time: Prep- 25 minutes
Ingredients
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
1-1/2 quarts fresh or frozen strawberries, sliced
Instructions:
In a bowl, cream sugar and shortening. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with milk to the creamed mixture. Spread in a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Cut into nine servings. Split each serving horizontally and fill with whipped cream and strawberries. Replace top of cake; garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and more berries. Serve immediately.
Strawberry Shortcake Tips
To cut the strawberries, start by twisting and pulling off the green stem of the berry. Then place the berry stem side down on a cutting board; cut into ¼-inch slices. Have leftover strawberries? Use them up in these strawberry recipes.
How can I customize this recipe?
Flavor your whipped cream by adding 1 tsp. of lemon zest and 2 tsp. of lemon juice to the cold whipping cream; whip until soft peaks form (make sure you're making whipped cream the right way!). While strawberries are the most classic, you could also use blueberries, blackberries or raspberries in this recipe. Check out our other shortcake recipes for inspiration, too.
Also, make sure you mix your dry ingredients really well before adding to the wet ingredients. You don't want any pockets of baking powder in your finished cake.
References
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