I love making food for my family, so we did some homemade baking for Valentine’s Day this year. The girls loved helping and the boys loved eating!
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Cream Puffs
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Puff Pastries Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup frozen butter
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1/4 teas salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
Puff Pastries Directions:
- I used my food processor with the metal blade and the shredding disk.
- Place the flour and salt into the food processor.
- Slowly add the frozen butter through the shredder as the food processor is pulsing.
- Add the cold water and pulse until a ball of dough forms.
- Place dough on a clean and floured surface. Roll out dough until it is about 12×18 inches.
- Add more flour to the dough and fold it into thirds. Add more flour and fold that in half. Place in a zip lock bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Cream Puff Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line to baking sheets with wax paper. Spray lightly with baking spray.
- Wrap forks with aluminum foil to resemble a cone and spray them too.
- Unfold the puff pastry and cut it with a pizza cutter into long 1 inch strips.
- Start at the small end of the fork mold and wrap the strip of puff pastry around it overlapping each layer by 1/4 inch. Place on the baking sheet.
- Prepare an egg wash with egg and water. Brush each horn with the egg wash.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes turning half way though.
- Allow them to cool for a few minutes and then remove the aluminum foil fork to finish cooling.
- Fill with the following Whipped Cream Recipe and dust with powered sugar.
Whipped Cream Ingredients:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream chilled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
Whipped Cream Instructions:
- Add the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- With the mixer on medium speed, whip the cream until it begins to thicken.
- Continue whipping for several minutes until the cream is fluffy (medium peaks) but not too firm.
- Use immediately or cover tightly and chill for up to 36 hours.
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Heart Pizzas
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Ingredients:
- 2 teas sugar
- 1 teas dry active yeast
- 2/3 cup warm water (105 degrees)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teas salt
- 2 TBS olive oil
- Pizza Sauce
- Pepperoni
- Mozzarella Cheese
Directions:
- Mix sugar and warm water. Then sprinkle with yeast and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Add in the flour, salt, and olive oil and mix with dough hook in electric mixer.
- Once it is well mixed knead for 5 minutes.
- Divide dough into 2 pieces and place into an oiled pan. Cover and let it rise for and hour.
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees and roll out dough. I cut mine into heart shapes.
- Spread the pizza sauce and cheese then bake for 12-15 minutes.
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Strawberry Shortcake
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Shortcake Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 egg
Strawberry Ingredients:
- 2 cups strawberries hulled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Directions:
- Start by preparing the strawberries. Add sliced strawberries to a bowl and sprinkle them with sugar. Stir to combine. Let them hang out on your counter for about 2 hours and they will create a delicious juice. I recommend stirring them every half hour or so.
- Next, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray the heart shaped cupcake mold generously with baking spray. Then, add some all-purpose flour to the molds, shake it around, and discard the excess.
- The next step is to whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Then add the vanilla, softened butter, milk, and egg. With an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for about two minutes.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared heart shaped cupcake mold . Each mold should be about three-quarters full. In case there are any drips, set the pan on a baking sheet while spooning the batter into the molds. Then place the shortcake pan in the preheated oven.
- Bake the little cakes for 18-20 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pan before attempting to remove them. Gently loosen each cake with your fingers: then invert the pan to release the cakes.
- While the shortcakes cool, prepare the whipped cream (I used the left over whipped cream from the cream puffs).
- Spoon a generous amount of the strawberries and juice on each shortcake. Top with a dollop of Homemade Whipped Cream. Garnish with a sliced strawberry and sprig of fresh mint, if desired.
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