Raspberry cupcake for your Valentine

Making your loved ones smile could sometimes be simpler than you think. Intangible gestures could be more precious than an expensive gift, be it jewellery, a gadget or anything else money can buy. Love is not how much money you are willing to part from, but care and support shown on a daily basis. The gift of time, the gift of thought, the gift of effort, the gift that only ones heart can provide is priceless.

If you are planning to eat out on the night of February the 14th, I suggest you cancel that plan and do something more meaningful. Most restaurants will most likely create a Valentine's fixed menu so no a la carte, prices will be doubled, restaurants will be packed, chefs could be stressed out and you could even be given a two hours turnover time. So why bother. Try making your loved ones a special meal in the comforts of your home instead and finish off with this beautiful heart-shaped cupcake I have recipe ready for you below. These cupcakes can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge to minimise stress on a week night once you get home from work.

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For those of you who still can't find the courage to utter the three words, these heart-shaped cupcakes with oozing white chocolate should do the job. At least for now.

"You will be surprised at how sometimes, the smallest gesture could outshine the most expensive gift."

RASPBERRY CUPCAKE

adapted from Palachinka
Makes 8

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs seedless raspberry conserve
• 3 eggs (seperate yolk)
• 90g plain flour
• 65g sugar
• 8 squares white chocolate

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease and flour the cupcake pan.

2.  Puree the raspberries in a blender and pass the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds.

3.  Whisk the egg yolk and sugar until pale and fluffy.

4.  Fold in the raspberry puree and flour to incorporate.

5.  Beat egg whites until stiff.

6.  Fold the stiffen egg white into the egg yolk and flour mixture very gently until just combined.

7.  Place a square of chocolate on each filled cupcake mould. Press the chocolate in half way with a toothpick. 

8.  Bake for about 7-8 minutes.

9.  Check by inserting a toothpick into the cupcake. It is ready when toothpick comes out clean. 

10. Let cakes cool on wire rack.

Tips:

• Decorate the cupcakes however you like them.
• Although these tastes good on its own, an addition of rose cream will do it wonders.

You may also like:

Lemon Crepe

Fruit Tart

Raspberry Cupcake

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Date Night In : Chocolate Thyme Cake with Orange Cream

..... a continuity of the Date Night In post with the Beef Stew recipe

Have you had thyme hot chocolate? It is one of my recent favourites. It gives the hot chocolate a very lovely scent and a smoother texture in mouth that I like. It has a calming effect too. There is just an extra step and ingredient added in your usual making of hot chocolate. All you need to do is add a sprig of thyme while heating the milk, remove it and froth the milk. Put a few teaspoon of your favourite hot chocolate powder and add the heated milk into the mug and stir well. The froth is poured in after for a finer finish of smoothly frothed milk. Try this and let me know how you like it. If you do not have a milk frother, omit that step or buy one. I currently use the Bodum Latteo Milk Frother but my I am itching for the Aeroccino that heats and froth at the same time.

From the above experience of the perfect combination of chocolate and thyme, it gave me the idea of adding thyme to the chocolate cake.



CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH ORANGE CREAM RECIPE

adapted from Sweet Paul's Fallen Chocolate Cake

serves 8

Ingredients:

• 250g dark chocolate


• 225g butter


• 6 eggs, seperated


• 4 sprigs of lemon thyme


• 6 tbs sugar


• 250ml double cream


• 1 tsp vanilla extract


• 1 tbs caster sugar


• 1 orange

Methods:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.


2. Melt the chopped chocolate with the butter and lemon thyme in a bain marie or in the microwave.


3. Beat the yolks and sugar until pale. Mix in the chocolate.


4. Whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks and gently fold into the chocolate mixture.


5. Pour the mixture into ramekins or into a 12 inch cake tin.


6. Bake for 12 minutes if using ramekin or 16-20 minutes if using cake tin.


7. The cake will rise and fall so don't panic.


8. While the cake is in the oven, zest half an orange and squeeze out juice from half an orange.


9. Use the remaining half of the orange for decoration of the cake. Cut them into small wedges.


10. Whip the double cream with a teaspoon of vanilla extract and sugar until soft peak.


11. Combine orange juice and zest and mix well.


12. Scoop the whipped cream on top of the cake and decorate with the orange wedges.

Tips:

• The cake tastes much better when warm. So heat it up before serving and scoop a generous amount of orange cream onto it afterwards.

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Date Night In : Beef Stew

Valentine's Day has always been quite controversial. There is a legend behind this day but some think that it is a day created so businesses could benefit from selling cards, buying gifts, flowers, restaurants hiking up prices just because it is a day of romance and everything else that is related to February 14th.

Personally, I think it is not necessary to go out on expensive dinner dates on this very night just cause everything is twice the price, restaurants are packed, most places would have a set menu to make their life easier so there is limited choice, and then there is higher expectations cause it is suppose to be this perfect night spent with your loved ones. All these are unnecessary. What is most important is that loved ones are nice and caring towards each other throughout. The most romantic in my opinion is the little everyday details. It could be the morning or I'm home kiss, even making dinner for him/her, helping out with laundry and cleaning, or waking up with that amazing breakfast with juice and hot chocolate or tea waiting for you. All that daily details aside, what makes a girl happiest are surprises at the most unexpected moments.

Since M and I won't be celebrating Valentine's Day on the day itself, we had a date night in on Saturday. It was a perfect evening with great meal home cooked with love, good wine and the best company. It was simple but lovely.

MENU for DATE NIGHT IN

~ no starter ~

~ beef stew with puff pastry ~

~ chocolate thyme cake with orange cream ~

Beef Stew with heart shaped Puff Pastry sprinkled with herbs

The beef stew was initially planned to be served with rice or potato puree but I thought of giving it some texture so chose puff pastry instead. It makes it sort of like a dismantled beef pie; less rustic with heart shaped puffs.

BEEF STEW RECIPE

adapted from SmallKitchCara's entry on Food52
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 700g stewing beef, cut into 2-3 inch cubes
• Salt & pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil

• 1 anchovy
• 2 slices of bacon
• 1 leek, sliced thinly
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery, diced
• 150g white mushrooms, quartered
• 70g tomato paste
• 60ml red wine vinegar
• 120ml red wine
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 150ml water
• 1 can chopped tomatoes

• 2 small bay leaves
• 2 sprigs thyme (I used scented thyme)
• 10g dark chocolate
• Handful chopped parsley

Scented Thyme

Chopped ingredients

Methods:

1. Brown the beef that has been seasoned with salt and pepper in high heat. Remove to plate
2. Fry the bacon then the onions and garlic until fragrant. Add in the rest of the vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes until softened.
3. Stir in anchovies and tomato paste, melt it and distribute.
4. Add in the beef and its juices, vinegar, wine and chopped tomatoes.
5. Add the beef bouillon that has been melted in 150ml of water into the pot. Then put the bay leaves and thyme in and bring it to boil.
6. Let it simmer for about 3 hours then stir in the dark chocolate and let it cook for another 30 minutes.
7. Cool to room temperature. Have it to sit for a few hours until ready to serve.
8. Heat it for about 3o minutes and garnish with chopped parsley.

The lovely multi-sized heart shaped puffs with the simple but delicious beef stew

Please click here for Chocolate Cake recipe.

You may also like:

• Bigos (Polish Hunter's Stew)
• Beef Pot Roast

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