Little Heart-Shaped Egg Puffs - perfect for Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day arrived via a UPS truck in the form of kitchen gadgets. It's all heart-shaped here, folks. And totally fun.

Before we continue with recipes, let me point out that, yes, I do seem to have a gadget addiction. Maybe I didn't have enough building blocks when I was a kid, or maybe I'm revolting against mom's unwillingness to buy more ingredients for the Easy Bake Oven, but I absolutely LOVE to mess around with new gadgets.

Thank goodness I'm a food blogger and people send me stuff, or we'd be living in a tent in the woods.

Surrounded by kitchen gear, of course.

The Valentine's Day goodies came from Mastrad, maker of all sorts of fun things. The UPS box was barely room temperature before I started cooking.

First up, silicone egg molds.

Let's pretend it's time for breakfast on V-Day, shall we?

The heart-shaped egg shapers come as a pair, and the idea is that you cook your eggs inside the mold to create a heart shaped breakfast. Mmmm ... "hearty" eggs.

I cooked a single egg in one of the molds, but I think the result might have been a tad nicer if I had cooked two eggs in it, since my heart was a little thin around the edges. Or, maybe if I had extra-large eggs instead of large.

I made a basic sunnyside-up egg, but there's no reason you couldn't make a fried/scrambled sort of thing. Just pour the egg mixture into the mold, and off you go.

For an egg that cooks more evenly on the top and bottom, I usually pour a teeny amount of water - like two tablespoons - into the pan, then cover the pan. The steam helps to cook the egg on top.

You could also use these for pancakes.

In any case, the heart was cute, and I could see serving these on occasions other than Valentine's Day, like on birthdays, anniversaries, or just when you're feeling a little mushy and romantic. Or just for the fun of it.

I mean, why not? They're just adorable.

Mini Hearts

Moving on to Valentine's lunch, Mastrad also sent me a silicone mini muffin pan that had two different sizes of heart. Awwwwww.

But I wasn't in a muffin mood, and I had cake standing by, so I didn't want little cupcakes, either.

But ... hmmm ... something savory.

I thought about little heart-shaped quiches, but then decided on something just a little different. Not as custardy. Still rich because of the heavy cream.

Go ahead and use milk if you like.

These are cute little snacks, appetizers, or part of a breakfast or lunch plate. Dress them up if you like with a tiny dollop of creme fraiche, some salsa or guacamole, or even some extra cheese melted on top.

Or just serve them plain. The heart shape is fancy enough.

The great thing about these is that they're just as good warm, room temperature or chilled.

Little Heart-Shaped Egg Puffs

5 eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream
3 ounces mild cheddar cheese, cut in chunks
3 slices deli ham, cut in 1-inch squares
1 tablespoon dry or fresh chives, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and have the silicone heart pan standing by.

Combine all the ingredients in your blender. The cheese and ham pieces don't need to be precise, you just want them small enough so the blades of your blender can catch them.

Pulse a few times, then run the blender until the ham and cheese are smaller bits.You're not looking for something completely smooth.

Pour the prepared egg mixture into the silicone molds, leaving some headroom in each cup for them to expand.

Bake at 350 degrees until the eggs are set and lightly browned, about 25 minutes.

The Mastrad pan is sturdy enough that you don't need to put it on a baking sheet, but you can use one if you think it will be easier to handle. Also, depending on your oven racks, you might want to use a baking sheet just to keep all those hearts flat.

Remove from the oven and turn out onto a plate. Serve. Eat. Yum.

Valentine's Dessert

What else could it be -  chocolate!

Even better, melted chocolate. The last Valentine's Day item that Mastrad sent me was a really cute fondue set, perfect for melting chocolate and dipping berries or bits of cake or cookies, or whatever you want to dip.

I didn't have time to actually set this one up and use it - I wanted to get this posted as soon as possible, just in case you wanted to try some of these yourself. But I unpacked it and ogled.

The stand is sturdy and the bowl is pretty. I've used this type of fondue setup before. Once the chocolate is melted, the tea light is enough to keep it melted. And you really don't need a recipe - just melt some chocolate and go.

Of course, you can add things to the chocolate, if you like.

The four included fondue forks are marked with hearts - two have solid red hearts, and two red outlined hearts, so you can keep track of which forks belong to who. Of course, on Valentine's Day, that might not really matter, but it's a nice decorative touch.

Besides helping you make a fun Valentine's Day dessert, I think this would made a cute gift, along with some good chocolate and some berries and cake for dipping. This is nice quality, and the bowl could serve other purposes when it's not being used for fondue.

Happy Valentine's Day! What are you serving?

This recipe plus that recipe equals ... Candy!

First there were the chocolate covered oreos.

Then there were truffles.

I decided to melt the left over white and red chocolate together to get a pink coating.

And then I rolled up some of the extra ganache I had left from the previous batch of truffles.

I chilled the heck out of the truffles and then coated them with the pink chocolate.

And then I sprinkled just a little bit of kosher salt on top.

Done. Yum.

Bread with a Heart - for Valentine's Day

How cool would it be to cut into a loaf of bread on Valentine's Day and find a pretty pink heart?

Yup, I thought it would be cool, and I wanted to do it without any food coloring.

The heart idea was new, but I've been working on this general concept for quite some time.

I've seen cakes with designs inside- hearts, squares, circles ... and I thought it would be pretty cool to do the same thing with bread.

Of course you can put two different types of dough together. But it's awfully hard to get the dough to keep the shape you're looking for.

It's hard enough to get it to behave when you're trying to make a bread sculpture like my bunny bread.

But when you're trying to keep a shape or pattern inside the loaf, it's even harder.

Here's one from a long time ago, where I was trying to make a smiley face.

As you can see, it's didn't work very well. I've tried a few other things, but none of them looked good enough to blog about. I mean, think about it. You make a simple swirl bread and it never comes out as a perfect spiral. Stuff inside moves around a lot as the bread rises. And it's worse when you're using two different types of bread, like rye and white. They don't rise at the same rate. It's really hard to control what they're going to do inside the bread..

But then I thought, "why not put a baked shaped bread inside some dough?" that's how the cake makers do it. They embed cooked shapes in the batter, and they bake it. Sounds easy enough, right? It should work for bread, rights?

Here was my first try. It's supposed to be a heart.

It's not dead-center in the bread, but that doesn't bother me. That adds to its personality.

The problem that you don't see is that the two different breads didn't join up very well. The heart falls out. Don't you just hate it when your heart falls out?

I also wasn't thrilled with the shape of the bread insert. Unless you look really closely, you can't tell that it's supposed to be a heart. And then I also decided that I didn't like the color of that heart. I wanted more contrast.

My second loaf looked wonderful coming out of the oven, but as soon as I cut into it, I could see that there was a huuuuge problem.

Oops. I knew what I did wrong. But, see the heart shape? It looks a bit better here. That was an easy fix. I just cut the notch a little deeper so it looks more like a heart.

This is what the shape looked like coming out of the mold I baked the bread in. See, it's a heart, but it could be a little more defined.

It was a lot pinker before I baked it the second time inside the bread. The color faded. Bummer. But I had ideas for fixing that, too.

Finally, after a number of tries (you don't want to know how many), I found a formula that worked.

Valentine's Bread

Pink Dough:
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
2 1/2 cups (11 1/4 ounces) bread flour
1 tablespoon beet powder*
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter

White Dough (for one loaf):
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
2 1/2 cups (11 1/4 ounces) bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter

For assembly:
1 egg white, beaten with a tablespoon of water

For the pink dough:
Combine the yeast, sugar, water, flour, beet powder, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Knead with the dough hook until the dough becomes elastic. Add the butter (it's fine if you add it straight from the refrigerator - the machine can handle it) and continue kneading until the butter is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic.

Form the dough into a ball. Place it back in the bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

When the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and divide it in half. Form each half into a log that will fit into one of your canape bread molds.** Or, if you're only making one loaf, you can use the second half of the dough for buns or a small loaf of bread.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Coat the dough with baking spray or a light coating of oil before you place it in the canape mold. Place the dough in the mold, cover the ends, and let the dough sit until the dough has risen enough so it nearly fills the mold to the top. It's fine to open the mold to peek. It should take about 30 minutes.

Place the filled mold(s) on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degree for 35 minutes, until the bread is baked though. It's normal for some of the dough to ooze out of the ends of the mold - don't worry about that.

Remove the bread from the oven, take the ends off the mold, and cut off the excess that overflowed the mold. Slip the bread out of the mold and let it cool on a rack. If your bread mold is similar to mine, cut a v-shape in the notch of the heart to enhance the shape. Or, if you like it the way it is, leave it as-is.

Slip the bread back into the mold and place it in the freezer for at least an hour. It's fine to continue the next day (or a few days later) if you prefer. Freezing accomplishes a few things, but one important thing is that it makes the bread hard enough so you can wrap the white dough around it firmly without squishing the design.

For the white dough:
Combine the yeast, sugar, water, flour, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Knead with the dough hook until the dough becomes elastic. Add the butter (it's fine if you add it straight from the refrigerator - the machine can handle it) and continue kneading until the butter is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic.

Form the dough into a ball. Place it back in the bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

When the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl. If you're using a heart mold cut off one piece of dough that you can roll into a rope and fit into the notch in the heart.

If you're making another shape (like the flower shape in the photo on the right) ), cut off enough pieces to fill any notches or valleys in the shape you're using.

Knead the remaining large piece of dough briefly, then flatten it into a rectangle that will be large enough to wrap around the bread baked in the canape mold. The edges on the long side should be kept thicker to compensate for the point of the heart. For other shapes, the rectangle can be an even thickness.

Remove the dough from the freezer and brush it all over with the egg white. Place the rope you rolled into the notch in the heart, then place the heart point-side up on the dough rectangle.

Wrap the dough around the bread and seal the seam, making sure there's enough dough around the point. Flip the dough so the pointed end of the heart is at the bottom. Shape the dough into an even log-shape.

Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray and place the dough in the pan, seam-side down. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until the dough rises about an inch over the top of the pan. Since you've cooled the dough with that chilly bread in the center, this will take longer than normal - 90 minutes or more. The dough should feel puffy and if pressed with a fingertip, it shouldn't spring back.

About 30 minutes before the dough is fully risen, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

When the dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap, slash the top of the loaf, and bake until the loaf is nicely browned, about 45 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan. If the sides an bottom are still paler than you like,  place the loaf directly on the oven rack and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Let the loaf cool completely on a rack before slicing.

*The beet powder I used came from Whole Foods. You can probably find it online or at a store that sells bulk spices. If you like, you could use food coloring, instead.

**These are the canape molds I have. If you don't have molds, you could bake a regular loaf and carve it into your preferred shape.

This has been submitted to Yeastspotting.

Chocolate Truffles with wheat germ? Why, yes!

I don't think I've ever heard the words "wheat germ" and "chocolate truffles" in the same sentence, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Wheat germ has a slightly nutty taste, and it would add texture to a smooth truffle. And it looks right.

I'd like to say that I came up with the idea myself, but I actually got it from the folks who make Kretchmer's Wheat Germ. Go figure, huh?

What I thought was interesting was that they have a honey-crunch wheat germ. I haven't tried it yet - heck, I haven't had time to go look for it yet - but it sounds intriguing.

I added a pinch or two of salt to the wheat germ coating. Very nice. Give it a try.

Dark Chocolate Truffles with Wheat Germ
Recipe courtesy of Kretchmer's Wheat Germ
Make 30-32 truffles

A decadent piece of chocolate is the perfect way to top off a meal and stay satisfied without overindulging. It’s also a really nice gift to bring to friends. These truffles are made with dark chocolate which we’ve heard is “good for us” and rolled in wheat germ instead of cocoa for a nutty richer depth of flavor.

8 ounces good quality bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons Kretschmer Original Toasted Wheat Germ or Kretschmer Honey Crunch Wheat Germ

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Place chopped chocolate in a medium-sized bowl.

Heat cream to a gentle boil in small, heavy-duty saucepan. Remove from heat and add then chocolate. Stir until mixture is smooth and chocolate is melted.

Refrigerate for 25 to 30 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to form into balls.

Using a very small ice cream scoop, about the size of a teaspoon or a melon baller, drop rounds onto the cookie sheet. Shape or roll into balls; coat with Kretschmer wheat germ. (Note: if chocolate becomes too soft to shape, put it back in refrigerator until it is cold enough to manage.)

Store in an airtight container in refrigerator. Remove at least 15 minutes before serving so chocolate has a chance to come to room temperature.

Chocolate Covered Cookies for Your Valentine

The Secret Baker (which apparently isn't very ninja-like, since you can find them on Facebook) describes the company as "A manufacturer of premium baking kits that include everything needed for ordinary people to make professional-quality cake pops and cookies."

I'm an ordinary people.

The company offered me an interview with the company president, but I thought it would be more fun to play with the products. Because I'm all about the play.

And getting messy, when possible.

First impression was that the box and packaging would make this a good gift item. It's got that "oooh pretty!" look to it. Since I didn't know what they were sending, it was fun to unpack.

I received a kit for making chocolate-covered Oreos, plus a sanding sugar kit and a cute little box for presentation. Um, I wasn't supposed to just eat them? Uh oh.

I very carefully read scanned glanced at the instructions and figured it couldn't be all that hard. Everything - abso-tively-lutely EVERYTHING you need is in the kit. Well, except a microwave oven and opposible thumbs, but that would be sort of hard to pack.

A spatula (not included) is useful for making the cookie bottoms nice and flat, but unless you're living in a forest with strange woodland creatures, you probably have something that would work. A pancake turner. A flat knife. A bench scraper. A ruler.

So what was included in the kit I got? A cookie mold, Oreo Cookies (double-stuffed), chocolate melting wafers in two colors, microwave-safe melting tubs, squeeze bottles, plastic spoons, toothpicks, gloves, some melty-flaky stuff to add to the chocolate, and instructions.

There's nothing magical in the kit, but it's nice that it's all in one package. You don't need to run back to the store because you forgot something. You just open the box, pause a moment to look a the instructions, and have fun.

A little practice wouldn't hurt, but if you're using one of these kits, you're not making these professionally. It's for fun. Or to let the kids have fun.

But wait! Is my kit defective? Why on earth did they send me a kit that spells VOLE!? Isn't that some sort of rodent???

Oh. Never mind. Just someone re-arranging my letters.

The kit would also be useful for someone named Leo V. Just kidding. Sort of. I was having a little too much fun playing word games with the cookies. LOL.

With practice (and not that much practice) I'm sure I'd get a whole lot better at making these. If you look closely at the letter E, you can see that the Oreo can be seen peeking through the white. That's because I pushed it down a little too firmly. Now I know better.

These kits obviously aren't going to appeal to the super-experienced baker or cookie decorator. But that's not who these kits are designed for. So it's all good.

The company also sells refills for the kits as well as individual products. Besides the Oreo cookie kits, there are cake pop kits. I'm not a huge fan of cake pops in general, but I have to say that some of their designs are adorable.