I have to confess that this dessert is way too chocolatey for me; however, it seems incredibly romantic.  Homemade truffles served with champagne sauce, the name alone screams romance.  For anyone who has a valentine that adores chocolate, this is the recipe for you to master.

Balsamic Truffles with Strawberry Champagne Sauce

Jonathan & Nate of Camden Drive

Balsamic Ganache
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
5 oz. high–quality chocolate chips (60% cocoa), such as Ghiradelli, divided
2 Tb. good balsamic vinegar

Chocolate coating
4 oz. high–quality chocolate chips (60% cocoa)
good, unsweetened cocoa powder for rolling

Strawberry Champagne sauce
1 cup drinkable champagne
1/2 cup seedless strawberry jam
1/4 cup granulated sugar (adjust to desired sweetness)

For the balsamic ganache:
Gently warm the whipping cream in a heavy small saucepan until scalded. Remove from heat; let cool until lukewarm.

Meanwhile, stir 3 ounces of chocolate in the top of double boiler until smooth. Remove from heat. Add the remaining ounce of chocolate; stir until smooth. Stir in cream. Let cool slightly and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet until firm, about 1 hour.

Line a second rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Quickly roll 1 tablespoon of ganache into a ball, being mindful not to allow your hands to warm the ganache too much (you also may want to use disposable gloves to avoid messy hands). Transfer to prepared sheet. Repeat with the rest of the ganache; chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

For chocolate coating:
Line another rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler until just melted. Remove from heat. Cool slightly.

Using a fork as you would a spoon, place 1 chilled truffle in warm (not hot) melted chocolate, coat and remove quickly. Let any excess chocolate drip back into the pan before transferring to prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining truffles, rewarming chocolate if necessary. Roll in cocoa powder after chocolate has been allowed to set slightly.

These steps can be done 1 week ahead of time if stored in an airtight container and kept chilled. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.

For Strawberry Champagne sauce:
Whisk together ingredients in a small, heavy sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and let reduce by half.  Let cool to room temperature before serving.

To Serve:
Drizzle sauce on serving plate as desired and arrange truffles. Garnish with fresh strawberries.

Yield:

Makes approximately 12 truffles.

This week’s dessert idea is a wonderful combination of wine, pears, almonds, and mascarpone.  Not only is it a delicious dessert, but it also has a beautiful presentation.  Although it looks intricate, it really is quite easy to prepare.   Your valentine is sure to be amazed by your culinary talents.

Red Wine Poached Pear with Candied Almonds and Mascarpone

Chef John Van House of Murray’s, courtesy of usapears.org.

Poached Pears
6 Bosc USA Pears
1 750 ml bottle red table wine
2 cups granulated sugar
2 Tb. Chinese Five Spice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
Mascarpone Filling
8 oz. mascarpone cheese
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1 cup candied sliced almonds, such as Almond Accents® Honey Roasted Sliced Almonds

Peel pear and core from the bottom to extract core and seeds.

In a saucepan, combine wine, granulated sugar, five spice, cinnamon and cloves. Add pears and just enough wine to cover pears. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until pears are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove pears and cool to room temperature. Cover and chill.

Simmer wine mixture until reduced to a syrupy consistency.

Whip mascarpone, cream, powdered sugar and almond extract on high speed until mixture forms firm peaks.

To serve: Spoon 2 tablespoons mascarpone filling into center of each pear. Place on dessert plates. Spoon 2 tablespoons mascarpone around bottom of pears. Drizzle 2 tablespoons slightly warm wine syrup over each pear. Garnish with candied almonds and serve immediately.

Makes 6

This recipe is sure to appeal to those who prefer vanilla.  The use of soy milk should be helpful to those who avoid dairy products due to allergies.  Plus, as Chef English notes, “Soy milk has never tasted as good as it does in this version of Panna Cotta.  The creamy texture of the soy milk is complimented by the bright, clean flavor of the blackberries.”

Soy Milk Panna Cotta with Crushed Blackberries

Chef Todd English, author of Cooking in Everyday English: The ABCs of Great Flavor at Home

1 vanilla bean, split
1 Tb. unflavored gelatin
2 cups unsweetened soy milk
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt, divided
2 cups plain soy yogurt
1 pint fresh blackberries
2 Tbsp.  sugar

Garnish: crushed amaretti cookies

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean.  Stir together gelatin and ¼ cup water in a small bowl.  Bring milk, ½ cup sugar, ¾ tsp. salt, and vanilla bean and seeds to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium.  Whisk in gelatin mixture until well blended.  Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook 1 minute.  Remove from heat, and discard vanilla bean.  Stir in yogurt until blended.  Pour mixture through a fine wire-mesh strainer into a bowl; discard solids.  Divide mixture among 6 (6 oz.) ramekins.  Cover and chill 3 hours or until set.

Stir together blackberries, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and remaining ¼ tsp. salt in a bowl.  Gently crush blackberries against sides of bowl until berries release their juices, using a fork.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Cook berry mixture in a small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes or until liquid begins to thicken.  Let cool 5 minutes.

Hold each ramekin in warm water 5 seconds; invert onto serving plates.  Top with blackberry sauce.  Garnish, if desired.  6 servings.

This week’s recipe comes to us courtesy of Chef Greg DeMichiel, who has been featured on WE TV’s My Fair Wedding and VH1′s Famous Food.  With his recipe for Flourless Chocolate Cake you will be able to impress your valentine with a dessert that is delicious and beautiful but also simple to make.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze

Chef Greg DeMichiel

1 lb. bittersweet chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1 lb. unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
12 eggs
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
Caramel Sauce, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray, too, then set the pan aside.

Place chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Stirring often, melt chocolate with butter until completely blended. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. (Alternatively, you may use your microwave to melt the butter with the chocolate, if desired). In a separate bowl, add the eggs, brown and granulated sugar and sifted cocoa powder and incorporate well. Slowly add the melted chocolate and butter mixture to the egg sugar and cocoa bowl, fold in well.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake has risen and top has formed a thin crust. The cake should be just firm in the center when done. Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate, removing sides of springform pan. Remove and discard parchment paper and set cake aside to cool completely.

When cake has cooled, drizzle glaze onto the cake, cut, and serve. Garnish with rose petals*.

Salted Caramel Glaze
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
fresh lemon juice
sea salt to taste

Place sugar, lemon juice, and water in a sauce pan over low-medium heat, when the color starts turning amber, turn the heat off and add the sea salt.

*Make sure that the roses are pesticide and chemical free.

Yes, this does sound amazingly similar to our regular Tapas Mondays, so in order to make this dinner special there are a couple tweaks.  First, we purchase an exceptional bottle of wine, a splurge that we wouldn’t buy for a weekly dinner.  Second, we plan a dessert to end the meal.

Valentine’s Day may be more than a month away, but it is never too early to start contemplating what dessert to make for your loved ones.  Over the next five weeks I will be sharing some fabulous recipes for dessert from a group of talented chefs.  This week we will begin the series with a recipe for Chocolate Godiva Cake.  For chocolate lovers, I am certain the name alone is delicious!

Chocolate Godiva Cake

Chef John Carver of Eddie V’s Prime Seafood

1 cup Dark Godiva Chocolate
5 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 oz. sugar
3 oz. butter
1 tsp. Godiva Liqueur

Preheat oven to 375.

Melt chocolate and butter.  Whisk eggs and sugar; add vanilla.  Add eggs to chocolate slowly.  Divide batter into 4 lightly buttered and floured, 8 ounce ramekins.  Bake for approximately 18 minutes.  Turn-out into a soup bowl, serve with vanilla bean ice cream.

Some toppings were quickly discarded, such as caramel because it seemed too sweet.  Macerated strawberries were considered, but I wasn’t sure how well strawberries and eggnog would pair.  Then it occurred to me that a bourbon sauce might work.  I had made one previously but thought I would create a recipe that had more bourbon flavor and less butter.

The addition of bourbon adds a smoky flavor and reduce the sweetness of the sauce just enough.  Yes, this is a sweet dessert, but not so much that it is cloying.  Give it a try on some homemade (or store-bought, if needed) ice cream.

Bourbon Sauce

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water, divided
1 Tb. cornstarch
1 Tb. vanilla
2 Tb. bourbon
1/2 Tb. butter

Place sugar in small pot and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar has melted and is amber.  Add 1/2 cup water to the melted sugar, and stir until combined.

In a separate bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup water and cornstarch.  Add cornstarch mixture to sugar mixture, and cook over heat, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens.  Add bourbon, vanilla, and butter.  Once butter is melted, remove from heat and serve.

My husband and I took turns creating each course.  I was assigned the appetizer course, which was a cranberry-pear chutney served with fresh mozzarella cheese and lavash crackers.  My husband created the next two courses:  salad, tossed pickled vegetable and pecans with a balsamic reduction, and soup, candied acorn squash bisque.  I had the primo, sautéed brussel sprouts and sausage.  My husband followed with the secondi, coconut curry turkey breast.  The afternoon and evening of dining ended with my final dish, a dessert of eggnog ice cream that was served with bourbon sauce and a tuile.

This eggnog ice cream recipe is not a recipe at all.  However, it seemed like the perfect item to share today.  On the day after Christmas there is a good chance that there is leftover eggnog gracing your refrigerator shelf.  After the commotion of the holiday, it is the perfect day to make the simplest dessert that still manages to delight your family.  Of course, if you don’t own an ice cream maker, then this recipe isn’t that simple.  However, there are ways to get around that.  Simply do a search for “making ice cream without an ice cream maker”, and you will find solutions.  I have not tried any of these, thus I don’t want to recommend any result in particular.

Eggnog Ice Cream

5 cups eggnog*

1 Tb. bourbon

Place ingredients in ice cream machine, and process according to manufacturer’s directions.  (Our batch was ready in 25 minutes and had a nice soft serve consistency.)

*Full fat eggnog will produce the best results.

These saffron buns are a traditional Swedish dish.  Jessica explains, “This is a traditional Swedish baked good served during the month of December. It is based on the holiday St. Lucia, on December 13th, but can be found on Christmas tables as well. It is not very sweet, but makes a nice roll to have with coffee or tea.”

Lussekatter – Swedish Christmas Saffron Rolls

2 cups milk
½ cup butter
1/2 tsp. saffron
5 tsp. yeast
8 oz. sour cream
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. salt
7 cups flour
½ cup raisins
1 egg

Warm the milk in a sauce pan on the stove at medium heat and add the butter and saffron. Let the butter melt, but don’t allow the temperature to get too hot. The liquid should not boil.  In a large bowl, add yeast. Pour the warm milk/butter mixture over the yeast and stir.  Add sour cream, sugar, salt and flour to the liquid. Mix until you get a good dough consistency. If the dough is too loose, add a touch more flour.  Put a towel over the bowl and let the dough rise for 1 hour.

Remove dough from bowl and place it on a floured surface. Cut the dough into 40 small sections.  Roll each section into a rope about 6 inches long. The rope should be about one inch thick. Then curl the tops of the rope back in toward the rope itself, a bit like an S-shape. Each of the 40 Lussekatts should look like a small S.

Place the Lussekatter on baking trays. Be sure to put parchment paper underneath. Cover the baking trays with a towel and let them rise for an additional 40 minutes.

Heat your oven to 425 degrees.  When the Lussekatter are finished rising, place two raisins on each one, in the crooks of each S.  Beat the egg and brush the egg on top of each Lussekatt.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Lori is a newer member of the team, joining us as a columnist this past January.  She gladly shares her knowledge on a variety of topics, including pets, health, parenting, and home repairs. In April, Lori added the role of Assistant Editor to her title.  She manages the content for our Circuitry, Health & Fitness, Home & Garden, and Style channels.

These cookies are sure to be popular with your family.  Just ask Lori’s father-in-law, they’re his favorite!

Italian Sesame Cookies

2 sticks butter
3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut butter into flour, add sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, egg, and milk.  When mixed, take a small portion of dough (size of a walnut) and roll into the shape of a little finger.  Roll in sesame seeds.  Bake until golden, approximately 15 minutes.

The ravioli really could act as an appetizer or as a dessert depending on how you serve it and the palates of your diners.  The filling is comprised of cream cheese and an apple/vinegar mixture, which gives it a savory taste.  I served it with a cider reduction for a hint of sweetness.  If you want this to be a dessert, simply serve more of the reduction.

The hardest part of making the ravioli is closing them.  You need to make sure the edges are sealed firmly so that you don’t have your filling leaking onto the baking tray.  Any filling on the tray means less for you to enjoy!  Additionally, the wonton wrappers are fairly small, so you can’t fit too much filling in each one.  If you add too much, the diced apple has a tendency to poke holes in the wonton wrapper.  However, they really are delightful little bites, quite worthy of a few minutes of work.

Apple Ravioli

1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 Tb. brown sugar
1 apple, peeled, cored, diced
1 cup apple cider
1 tsp. cinnamon
12 wonton wrappers
1-2 Tb. cream cheese, softened
1 egg white, whisked

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl combine vinegar and brown sugar.  Add diced apple, mix, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

In a small pot combine cider and cinnamon.  Simmer over low heat until thickened.  The liquid should reduce to approximately a quarter cup.  As the cider reduces, it is important to watch it carefully.  It can change quickly from delicious syrup to burned syrup.  Depending on how sweet you want this dish to be, you may have leftovers.

The finished ravioli will be shaped like triangles.  Place one wonton wrapper on work surface and spread a small amount (less than a teaspoon) of cream cheese on one half, leaving a 1/4-inch edge.  Top with a small amount (again, less than a teaspoon) of well-drained apple mixture.  Brush edges of wonton with egg white.  Fold top half of wonton onto filling, and crimp all edges.  Place on parchment-lined tray.  Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers.  Bake for 8 minutes.

To serve:  Using a teaspoon, swipe cider reduction on plate.  Place two ravioli atop the reduction and enjoy!