Sweet Treats for your Sweet Heart: Red Velveteen Cupcakes, Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and Citrus Sugar Cookies

People do crazy things in the name of love.

Menelaus led one thousand ships across the Aegean Sea, destroyed the city of Troy, and killed and enslaved the Trojan people to win back the beautiful Helen.  Mark Antony took on the whole of the Roman Empire to protect Cleopatra.  King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.  We promise, for better or worse, and to the exclusion of all others.  We move to distant cities to follow the career aspirations of our partners.   We work too many long days and late nights to provide a better life for our loved ones. 

Given all that we do for the people we love, it is only fitting that we dedicate a day out of the year to show our appreciation.  Sadly, the valid message behind Valentine’s Day has been obfuscated and the holiday hijacked by a consumerist culture that seeks only to sell more diamonds and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.  That does not mean that the day is not worth celebrating in some way.  Find a way to honor the spirit of Valentine’s Day in a sincere way, even if it is on a random Wednesday in April, instead of a random Monday in February.  Do nice things for each other because you want to, not because Hallmark tells you that you should.

This year, I received my “Valentine’s Day” present in January – a gorgeous cast iron Dutch-Oven in flame red – following a post-holiday sale at Sur la Table.  My assignment for this V-Day was to cook something delicious in my new cookware.  What did my husband request?  A repeat of last week’s Pasta with Pork Sugo and Porcini.  Hey, the man knows what he likes.  I am still contemplating what to serve for an appetizer and dessert, and will post the final menu next week.

We have, however, been busy in the kitchen making some sweet treats for some of our other Valentines, most notably my grandmother who will be turning 93 this week (HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!).  Pick up some festive boxes or bags – these treats make excellent gifts for anyone to whom you want to send a little love.  Enjoy! 

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These beauties are adapted from Moskowitz and Romero's recipe for "Crimson Velveteen" cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  They can be made by substituting soy milk in the cupcakes and nonhydrogenated margarine and vegan cream cheese for the frosting.  I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves cupcakes - every recipe I have tried is delicious and you would never guess they were dairy free.

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1Tsp apple cider vinegar
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs cocoa-powder
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tbs red food coloring
2½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract

Preheat oven 350 degrees and fill muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Whisk together milk and vinegar in a bowl.  Set aside.  Do not be alarmed if the milk curdles - it is supposed to do that!

Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl and mix to blend.  Add the oil, food coloring, and extracts to the milk mixture and whisk to combine.  Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ones, mixing until the large lumps disappear.  Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

When completely cooled, frost with half of my recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting.

Citrus Sugar Cookies

These cookies are buttery and deliciously flaky.  The light citrus flavor makes them a bit more interesting than regular sugar cookies.  

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1 1/4 grated tangerine peel or orange peel

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

Citrus Icing

3 tbs fresh lemon juice

2 tbs cup milk

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Food coloring, sprinkles or colored sugar for decorating.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt into bowl. In a large bowl or the work bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, lemon peel and tangerine peel in large bowl until light. Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup powdered sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Mix until the dough starts to come together (it will be soft and crumbly). Gather the dough into two balls and flatten into disks.  Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.  You can make this dough up to two days before rolling and baking.  Just keep the dough refrigerated and let it soften slightly before rolling out. 

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 – 14 inch thickness.  Use cookie cutters of your choice.  Bake until the edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown, about 10-15 minutes depending on thickness. 

While the cookies are cooling, make your icing.  Combine the juice and milk in a large bowl.  Gradually whisk in the powdered sugar, ½ a cup at a time.  The icing should be stiff enough to pipe with a pastry bag.  If you want to glaze your cookies with the icing, just add more milk by the teaspoon until the icing reaches a spreadable consistency.  Then brush the icing over the cookies with a pastry brush.  Let the icing set for up to 2 hours.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Ingredients:

2 pints of strawberries, washed and unhulled

1 4-ounce bar of Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped

1 4-ounce bar of Ghirardelli 60% Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped

1 tbs vegetable shortening

2 ounces of Ghirardelli White Chocolate, chopped

Line a baking sheet with wax paper.

Combine the semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 20 seconds and then stir.  Continue microwaving in 15-20 increments, stirring after each, until the chocolate is completely melted.  Add the vegetable shortening and stir until melted and incorporated with the chocolate (you may need another 15-20 seconds in the microwave). 

Take a strawberry and dip into the chocolate mixture, making sure to fully coat.  Lift the strawberry and place gently onto the wax paper.  Repeat with the rest of the strawberries.  Let the chocolate harden for a few minutes to set.

In another microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate in the same manner.  Spoon the melted chocolate into a small plastic bag.  Push the chocolate into one corner and twist the bag (making it into a small pastry bag).  With a pair of scissors, snip a tiny bit off the corner.  Squeeze the bag gently and drizzle the white chocolate back and forth over the cooled berries.  Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 1 hour.