Valentine Treats

This past weekend was Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year so there was a lot of eating and celebrating going on. . Therefore stuff to post on my blog! :) This post will be about Valentine's.

My little cousins for NorCal were visting for New Year's and they LOVE helping me bake. They like to do things such as stir, crack eggs, and decorate. Here's what we made...

Valentine Cupcakes...
These were red velvet cupcakes decorated with Valentine colors. My cousins and my sister decorated them and we put them on our cupcake stand. Here is a list of all the things needed to make these cupcakes...
Red Velvet cake mix
Cream Cheese Frosting
Red Marshmallow Fondant
Pink & Red Sprinkles
Pink Sparkly Decorating Gel




Hug Cookies...
You have probably seen Peanut Butter Blossoms (those Hershey's Kiss cookies) before. I made a derivative of that cookie. Instead of Hershey's Kisses, I used Hershey's Hugs and chocolate cookies. There is a recipe for this cookie on the package of Hugs but it called for brownie mix and I didn't have any or want to use it. I decided to get a recipe from one of my cookie books. I used the Double Choc-n-Chili Cookie recipe minue the chocolate chips and chili (see below for the recipe). I also accidentally forgot to add the brown sugar so my cookies turned out less chewy and less sweet. I actually liked them, but I would prefer having the brown sugar in them b/c brown sugar is what gives cookies that chewy texture associated with cookies.

Cheesecake...
I made 2 cheesecakes earlier this week. One was for a birthday celebration for my friend, Greg. The other I kept at home for the weekend. I had leftover marshmallow fondant from the cupcakes so we decorated the cheesecake with it. I used Tyler Florence's The Ultimate Cheesecake recipe minus the lemon blueberry topping. The cheesecake had a good texture, not to fluffy and not too dense. I would have to say it would be more on the dense, than the fluffy side though. It was a good basic cheesecake and I think it would have been awesome with a berry topping. Next time, definitely!

Double Choc-n-chili Cookie Recipe... 
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
3.4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
14 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
Candied Chilies (1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, 3 fresh red Thai chilies, chopped finely - Stir sugar and the water in small pot over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add chilies, boil, 2 minutes; cool. Strain, discard syrup.)
1. Prehead oven to 350 degrees Farenhiet. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Make candied chilies
3. Beat butter, vanilla, sugars, and egg with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Stir in sifted flour, cocoa, and baking soda in 2 batches. Stir in candied chilies and chocolate.
5. Roll leven tablespoons of dough in balls; place about 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake about 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet.