A Valentine's Heart For You.

 

Rosie has the perfect heart cake for your Valentine.

Chocolate/coffee/hazelnut on the inside.

Chocolate ganache on the outside.

Cake Ingredients

2 1/2 cups cake flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup ground toasted hazelnuts

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup coffee

Heat oven to 325°.

Prepare a 9-inch round pan and a 9-inch square pan

by buttering and cocoa-ing.

For chocolate cakes,

 instead of using white flour on the pans, I use cocoa.

Combine flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda,

and ground toasted hazelnuts in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth.

Gradually add in both sugars, beating until combined.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Mix in vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture then buttermilk

into the butter mixture, each in 3 parts,

mixing well after each addition.

Slowly add the coffee and mix until smooth.

Divide batter evenly between the two pans

and bake 35 - 40 minutes,

until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool before removing from pan and frosting.

Chocolate Ganache 

1 10-ounce package of bittersweet chocolate chips

10 ounces heavy cream

Pour chocolate chips into a small bowl.

Heat cream to a simmer,

then pour over chips.

Stir until chips are melted and icing is smooth.

Pour over heart cake and smooth with an offset spatula.

Mix the dry ingredients.

Butter and cocoa the pans.

Lookey!  Lookey!

Two of my eggs had double yolks.

Alternate dry ingredients with ...

... buttermilk.

Slowly add in coffee.

Divide the batter between the two pans

and spread evenly with an offset spatula.

Let cool completely.

Slice the round cake in half.

And make a happy heart!

Trim it up a bit.

Pour the ganache over top and smooth it out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I decided this needed homemade ice cream.

 I'm not usually into sweets,
but ...  THIS????  ...
I couldn't of enough get!

Don't know why.
Except it was crazy good.

 Vanilla Ice Cream
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 TB vanilla
Beat all together until sugar is dissolved.
Pour into quart ice cream freezer and hit the button.
Process away.

Pour into 2 pint-sized containers and freeze.

 Give it some sliced strawberry lovin'.

Valentine's Dinner For Two

 For Valentine's Day, I'm giving you Valentine's Dinner for Two.

 The Hawthornes are starting out with champagne, of course,

and chocolate dipped strawberries.

 

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

2 oz. sweet chocolate

2 oz. bittersweet

1 tsp shortening

Nuke all together.

Stir until well-combined and smooth.

Dip cleaned strawberries in the chocolate

and set on wax paper to harden.

Next, the Hawthornes are having oysters on the half shell. 

Oysters Hawthorne

12 oysters, shucked, on the half shell

1 TB unsalted butter

½ cup chopped onions

1 TB unsalted butter

4 ounces fresh spinach, chopped

¼ cup water

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup ricotta

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese, grated

Panko breadcrumbs

½ stick unsalted butter, melted

Fresh nutmeg, microplaned

In a medium skillet, melt one tablespoon of butter.  Add in chopped onions and cook over medium heat about a minute.  Add in the second tablespoon of butter, melt, then add in the spinach.  Cook stirring, about a minute, then pour in the water and cook until spinach is wilted and water is evaporated.   Stir in cream and ricotta and heat through.  Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Spoon spinach mixture on each oyster, then grate Parmesan cheese, sprinkle Panko breadcrumbs, and grate a hint of nutmeg over top.  Spoon melted butter over the oysters and place under a 450° broiler for 3 minutes, until bubbly and nicely browned.

Rosie’s Fiesta Oysters

12 oysters, shucked, on the half shell

Mr. Hawthorne’s homemade Salsa Ranchera or your favorite homemade or jarred salsa

Queso cheese with jalapeno, crumbled

Crumbled tortilla chips

½  stick unsalted butter, melted

A few drops of Texas Pete

Place about a teaspoon of salsa on each oyster, then sprinkle on some queso, and top with crushed chips.  Spoon about 2 teaspoons of melted butter over each oyster, dribble some Texas Pete on top, and place under a 450° broiler for 3 minutes, or until the topping is browned and the liquid is bubbling.

 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

4 eggs

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate

4 oz. sweet chocolate

1 stick butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

2 TB strong brewed coffee

Powdered sugar, if desired

Heat oven to 325°.  Butter a 7-inch springform pan, line with parchment paper, and butter sides.  Wrap outside of pan with heavy foil.  Set in a roasting pan and put on a kettle of water to boil.

Using a stand mixer with whisk, whip eggs on medium speed until doubled in volume, 5 or so minutes.

Melt chocolate and butter with coffee in a double boiler, stirring a few times until smooth.  Using large spatula, fold ⅓ of egg foam into chocolate mixture until only a few streaks of egg are visible.  Fold in remaining egg in two additions until mixture is uniform.

Pour batter into prepared springform pan, set roasting pan on oven rack, and pour boiling water halfway up the sides of the pan.

Bake 25-30 minutes, until edges are beginning to set and a slight crust has formed.  Remove pan from water bath and cool completely on wire rack.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate over night.

Run a thin knife between cake and sides of pan and remove sides.  Invert cake and remove parchment, then turn cake right side up on serving platter.  Sift powdered sugar over top.

Next, I’m making a raspberry purée, an ideal accompaniment to this chocolate dessert.  

 

Raspberry Purée

2 cups raspberries

3 TB sugar

2 TB water

Pinch salt

2 tsp lemon juice

Combine raspberries, sugar, and water in small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, 3-4 minutes.  Process in blender until smooth.  Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing to extract as much purée as possible.

Stir in lemon juice and salt and taste-test.  Depending on the ripeness of your berries you might want to add more sugar.

Spoon purée onto plate and place a slice of the chocolate cake in the pool of purée.  Spoon raspberries over top.  If desired decorate with silver dragées and sprinkles.

 

Bon Appétit and Happy Valentine’s Day.

Rosie Is Published.

Please check out Rosie's Valentine Dinner column

in the Outer Banks Voice.

 We start out with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries.

 And we move on to oysters on the halfshell.

First, Oysters Hawthorne.

 Next, Rosie's Fiesta Oysters.

And we finish with a delectable and decadent flourless chocolate "cake"

with a raspberry purée, raspberries, and sprinkle and dragées.

Happy Valentine's Day!