Valentine's Cupcake

Valentine's Cupcake

Valentine's cupcake

Ingredients

For the cakes

• 125g/4oz unsalted butter, softened
• 125g/4oz caster sugar
• 2 free-range eggs
• 125g/4oz self-raising flour
• 150g/5oz raspberries
• 6 passion fruit, sieved pulp only
• a little milk, to loosen the mixture as necessary

For the icing

• 500g/1lb 1½oz icing sugar
• 160g/5½oz butter
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds only
• 2-3 drops pink liquid food coloring
• 50ml/1¾oz milk

Preparation method

1. For the cakes, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Sit 12 paper cases in a muffin tray.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until well combined.
3. Fold the flour, raspberries and passion fruit pulp into the mixture until almost smooth. If the mixture looks too stiff, add a little milk, as necessary.
4. Divide the mixture among the paper cases then bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack and set aside until completely cooled.
5. For the icing, using an electric whisk, cream the icing sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Whisk in the vanilla pod seeds and food colouring. Gradually whisk in enough milk to form a smooth paste.
6. Spoon the icing into a piping bag with a large star-shaped nozzle and pipe the icing over the cake. Sprinkle over the hundreds and thousands.

French Toast with Raspberries

French Toast with Raspberries

French Toast with Raspberries

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of heavy cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 4 1-inch slices of French bread
• Butter

Preparation Steps

1. You can leave your bread out to dry overnight for eight hours if you'd like. However, this recipe works just fine with fresh bread provided it's sliced thick enough.

2-Begin by whisking together the cream, eggs, honey, spices, and salt. Gently blend them all together, making sure not to over whisk.

3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. While that's heating, pour your custard mixture into a large shallow dish, like a casserole dish.

4. Turn a burner on to medium-low heat and begin to melt the butter

5. Soak each slice of bread in the mixture for thirty seconds on either side and even longer for stale bread. (You want a mushy texture, but not falling-apart mushy).

6. Now add the bread to the heated skillet with the butter and brown each piece for 2-3 minutes on both sides until golden. Once they've been browned, flip the slices back to their original side and put the whole skillet in the oven. Heat through for 5 to 6 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about a minute. Top with powdered sugar, maple syrup, raspberries, and fresh whipped cream. (An optional fruit sauce can be made with crushed berries, honey, sugar, and cream cheese.) Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Valentine's Pizza

Valentine's Pizza

Valentine's Pizza

Ingredients

• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 (14 ounce) can pizza sauce 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 15 slices vegetarian pepperoni
• 1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced black olives

• Preparation steps
• • 1-Place bread flour, yeast, water, and 2 tablespoons olive oil into the bread machine pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select the Dough setting. Press Start. When the dough is finished, knead rosemary into the dough.
  • 2-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  • 3-Divide the dough into three portions. Shape each piece into a heart shape about 1/2 inch thick. Brush with remaining olive oil, and spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on each pizza. Sprinkle cheese over pizza sauce, and arrange tomatoes, zucchini, pepperoni, and sliced olives on top.
  • 4-Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until cheese has melted and crust is browned.