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Panna Cotta Is Perfect Non-Chocolate Valentine's Day Dessert

partysugar — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:00:54 -0800

Happy Valentine's Day! While some guys have a sweet tooth, I know a few who don't enjoy decadent chocolate desserts. If your honey happens to be a choco-hater, serve him panna cotta, a delicious Italian dessert.

Heavy cream, sugar, gelatin, and vanilla bean combine to make this incredibly simple, but insanely scrumptious treat. It has the chilled texture of custard without the flavor of eggs. Show your love by making the panna cotta in a heart-shaped baking dish. For a festive touch, drizzle raspberry sauce (caramel or honey would be equally delicious) over the cream heart. To start cooking - panna cotta needs several hours to set - read more.

Panna Cotta With Raspberry Sauce
Modified from Michael Chiarello

Ingredients

2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from one envelope)
3 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Raspberry sauce*
fresh raspberries, optional for garnish

Directions

Place six 3 1/2-ounce ramekins (3 inches in diameter, 1 1/2 inches deep) on a rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate until cold.
Put 3 tablespoons cool water into a medium bowl. Sprinkle with gelatin; let stand until gelatin has softened, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the cream, vanilla bean, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat.
Remove the vanilla bean and split lengthwise. Scrape the vanilla beans into the cream.
Pour cream mixture into bowl with gelatin; whisk until gelatin has dissolved.
Pour through a sieve into a bowl. Pour cream mixture into chilled ramekins. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
To remove from the mold: Dip the bottom of the mold into a pot of hot water to loosen the panna cotta. Slide a knife around the edge, then carefully turn over onto a serving plate.
Drizzle with the raspberry sauce and garnish with fresh raspberries, if desired.

Makes 6.

*I halved the recipe and used a strawberry jam since it is what I had on hand.

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Raspberry Sauce
From Ina Garten

Ingredients

1 half-pint fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup seedless raspberry jam
2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier)

Directions

Place raspberries, sugar, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 4 minutes.
Pour the cooked raspberries, the jam, and orange liqueur into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until smooth. Chill.

Makes 2 cups.

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Le Creuset Cast Iron Heart: Love It or Hate It?

partysugar — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:00:55 -0800

Recently I received an email from a Sugar gal with a picture of this Le Creuset cast iron, enameled heart-shaped casserole. The caption read, "I mean seriously. How many days a year would you use this?"

While she obviously hates this cooking dish, I politely disagree. I happen to enjoy heart-inspired kitchenware year-round, and could imagine making special meals for my (non-existent) sweetheart any night of the week.

How do you feel about it?

Off to Market Recap: Heart Kitchenware

partysugar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:30:21 -0800

Last year I received a spatula with pretty pink hearts on it as a hostess gift. At first, I thought it was a little cheesy, but now it's my favorite kitchen tool! To encourage you to bring a little love in the kitchen and get in the Valentine's Day spirit, you headed off to market in search of heart kitchenware. You looked for tools that make heart shaped food or fun heart printed servingware. You saved your discoveries in the Heart Kitchenware.

I've fallen madly in love with this heart-shaped wooden cutting board. Brielle found the board on Etsy.

With a nice selection of cheese, it would make a great Valentine's Day gift! For more heartfelt finds, browse the extensive collection below.

Learn how the bookmarking feature functions.

Off to Market: Heart Kitchenware

partysugar — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:45:42 -0800

Last year I received a spatula with pretty pink hearts on it as a hostess gift. At first, I thought it was a little cheesy, but now it's my favorite kitchen tool! To encourage you to cook with more love, let's head off to market in search of heart kitchenware. Look for tools that make heart shaped food or fun heart printed plates, dish towels, and servingware. Save your lovely discoveries in the Yum Market on TeamSugar with the keyword tag, Heart Kitchenware. Happy hunting!

To learn how the bookmarking feature functions, refer to geeksugar's explanation.

To get you started, check out a list of my favorite online stores and read more

Bed Bath & Beyond
CB2
Cooking.com
Crate & Barrel
Ikea
Linens and Things
NapaStyle
Pier 1
Plum Party
Pottery Barn
Sur La Table
Target
Restoration Hardware
Williams Sonoma
Wishing Fish
World Market

Love's in the Forecast

YumSugar — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:29:51 -0800

Earlier, PartySugar tipped you off to the fact that new phrases are introduced on conversation hearts each year. This year, the people at Necco are turning up the heat and have declared that "Love's in the Forecast". For those that don't speak marketing jargon, this year's ten new phrases are all weather and nature inspired. The new phrases are:

Melt My Heart
In a Fog
Chill Out
Cloud Nine
Heat Wave
Sun Shine
Get My Drift
Wild Life
Nature Lover
Do Good

If you want to see them for yourself, there's still time for love in your forecast! Head down to your local store for a bag, or better yet, wait for tomorrow when they're sure to be on sale!

Source

Make These Valentine's Day Treats for Your Sweetheart

YumSugar — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:10:52 -0800

If you still haven't figured out how to treat your loved ones this Valentine's Day, then check out some of our favorite recipes from the past. I personally love the heart-shaped ice cream sandwiches, but the champagne risotto is nice too. Check them all out, hit the "Start Slideshow" button below.

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Show Your Cook a Little Love

YumSugar — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:08:31 -0800

If your sugar is a stay-at-home and make-delicious-treats sort of Valentine then surprise her with something fun for the kitchen. I've rounded up some lover-ly kitchen finds; browse through them by clicking "Start Slideshow" below!

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Cupcake of the Week: Your Own Bloody Valentine

YumSugar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:31:37 -0800

If you think cutesy pink Valentine cupcakes are too sentimental and passé then wait until you check out these Bleeding Heart cupcakes. Instead of being cutesy hearts, they're almost gruesome, and the best part is that they actually bleed jam! I love how fun they are, and especially adore the use of marbles to create the indentations! To check out the recipe and create your own bloody valentine, read more.

Bleeding Heart Cupcakes
From Hey There, Cupcake! by Clare Crespo

20 glass marbles or small balls of tinfoil
1 recipe batter for White Cupcakes (see below)
2 to 3 cups strawberry jelly or smooth strawberry jam
1 recipe Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting (see below)
Red and blue food coloring
Pastry bag and medium round tip (optional)

Line cupcake tins with paper liners. Fill the liners two-thirds full with the batter. Place 1 marble or tinfoil ball between each liner and the tin. This will make a dent in your cupcake when it bakes to make it heart shaped. Bake the cupcakes as directed in the recipe. If you are using marbles, be careful when removing the cupcakes from the tins because the marbles will be very hot.
With a small paring knife, cut out a circle about the size of a dime in the center of each cupcake, going about two thirds of the way in. Pull the little plug of cake out. Cut off the top of this piece (about 1/2 inch thick) and eat or discard the bottom. Use a teaspoon or a squeeze bottle to fill the hole partway with the strawberry jelly "blood." Put the little cake plug back in. Continue with the rest of the hearts.
Put one-third of the frosting into two separate bowls. Color one bowl of frosting with the red food coloring. Tint the other bowl of the frosting blue. Tint the remaining two-thirds pink.
Frost the cupcakes with the pink frosting. Make it super smooth by dipping a butter or frosting/palette knife in a bowl of hot water and smoothing it over the top. With the pastry bag or a knife, use the red and blue frosting to make veins on the hearts.

White Cupcakes Batter
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare cupcake tins as directed as directed in the recipe you are following.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
In a separate, larger bowl, cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar, creaming until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, and beat well after each addition.
In a small bowl, combine the milk and vanilla.
To the butter mixture, add about one quarter of the flour mixture and mix well. Add about one quarter of the milk mixture and mix well. Continue alternating the flour mixture and milk mixture, beating after each addition until smooth.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.
Add the powdered sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy.

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Bid on This: Heart-Shaped Potato on Ebay

YumSugar — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:01:31 -0800

There's not much time left - the bidding ends in less than 20 hours - but a seller in the UK has posted a heart-shaped potato on ebay. Right now the bidding is only at £6 (approx $12), but if you're interested in this Valentine's Day find, you better move quick! Seems like this must be the year for heart-shaped food anomalies!

Go Ahead and Eat Your Heart Out

YumSugar — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:10:03 -0800

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and if you're the kind of person who likes to match the kitchen décor with the season then you're in luck! There are tons of festive finds out there, and the Yum Market is full of them. From egg heart molds - found by three different TeamSugar members - to heart-shaped casserole dishes, there's definitely something for everyone. To discover more, scroll through the finds below.

To learn how to use this fun bookmarking feature, read GeekSugar's guide.