In a saucepan, combine the butter with the granulated sugar and water and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring. Once it’s melted and the sugar is dissolved, remove pan from the heat. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth and all the chocolate is melted; let it cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the eggs until blended. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Pour enough hot (not boiling, but hot) water into the roasting pan to reach one-third of the way up the side of the springform.

Put the pans into the oven and bake the cake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the top is crusty and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Then remove the pans from the oven and remove the springform pan from the roasting pan. Let the cake cool in the springform pan, set on a rack for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and the side of the pan and let the cake cool completely. Dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream mixed with some vanilla. A few fresh raspberries are also a nice addition.

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer using the paddle attachment beat shortening and sugar. Add in egg and mix.

3. In a separate small bowl dissolve baking soda in the sour cream.

4. Mix together flour and cocoa.

5. Alternate adding flour and sour cream mixture into the mixing bowl with the sugar mixture.

6. Mix until you have a nice soft dough and then set dough on your work surface.

7. Roll the dough out using more flour if needed so it is not sticky.

8. Use cookie cutters to make your heart shapes.

9. Place cookies onto the prepared cookie sheet. Decorate with sprinkles if you are using sprinkles instead of frosting.

10. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set them on a rack to cool before decorating.

11. For the icing combine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of your stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Beat for 30 seconds.

12. Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time.

13. Mix in up to 1 tablespoon of milk, depending on what consistency you would like to have for your frosting.

14. Separate frosting into bowls and mix one to two drops of food coloring into one of the bowls.

15. Spoon frosting into a piping bag or sandwich bag with a corner cut off. Decorate as desired and enjoy!

This icing was made thick so I could pipe it onto the cookies and hold its shape. You can add more milk to make it more spreadable if you would like to spread the icing on.

Notes:
1. These cookies can be cooked longer if you like a crunchy cookie. My husband does so I make a tray just for him.

2. You can decorate after the cookies have cooled using frosting of your choice.

3. This recipe is adapted from my grandma’s cream cookies. The icing is adapted from glorioustreats.com.

2. In the meantime in a smaller bowl whisk powdered sugar and hot cocoa together and set aside.

3. In a large bowl measure out the cereal. When chocolate mixture has melted pour it over the cereal and mix well.

4. In a large plastic bag add half of the powdered sugar mix.

5. Then add all of the cereal and the remaining half of the powdered sugar.

6. Close bag and shake, shake, shake until all is incorporated.

7. Pour into a bowl and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from treattisseriechick.blogspot.com.

Wash beets and dry thoroughly. Rub with olive oil. This will make peeling them easier. Wrap tightly in foil, put on cookie sheet and bake until soft inside. I check with a thin knife. Large beets will take about 1 hour. Let cool.

Prepare the grapefruit. Here’s an easy way to get perfect grapefruit segments: Cut off both ends of the grapefruit and set on flat surface. Use a sharp knife to cut pith completely off the fruit. Working over a bowl (to catch the juice) use the same sharp knife to cut out each segment from between the membranes.

For the dressing, toast the cumin seeds on medium heat on stove top in a small frying pan. Let cool. Use a mortar and pestle to grind the seeds. Mix lemon juice, ground cumin seeds, salt, pepper and Dijon mustard. Add the juice from the grapefruit that collects in the bowl when you cut it. Whisk in the walnut and canola oils.

When the beets are cool, use kitchen gloves to peel off the skin. This will keep your hands from turning beet red! Slice the beets into 1/2 – 3/4 inch slices and use a heart shaped cookie cutter to make the perfect Valentine’s shape. Drizzle a little of the dressing on the beets.

Now for the assembly. Place the arugula on a platter and toss with a little more of the dressing. Arrange the avocado and grapefruit, then add the star of the show: the heart-shaped beets. Pour remaining dressing over the salad. Garnish with the basil.

Put your tortillas onto a cutting board. Cut each corn tortilla into the shape of a heart using a sharp knife.

Heat a small skillet on medium heat and add the canola oil. To test if the oil is hot enough dip just an edge of the tortilla into the oil and if it sizzles the oil is ready and you can add the entire heart tortilla. Cook until each side of the tortilla is golden brown (about 3 or 4 minutes). Remove the tortilla from the oil and set on a paper towel. Repeat until all tortillas are cooked. Set aside.

Spread the refried beans on top of the tortilla shells. Next spread the salsa on top of the beans and top with the cheese, purple cabbage, tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, and lettuce (optional).

Add the sour cream to a pastry bag with your favorite decorative tip. Pipe the sour cream around the outside edges of the tostada so that it resembles the look of lace. Or make any decoration with the sour cream you would like. Serve warm or at room temperature for a meal or appetizer.

1. Rinse the strawberries and place them on a plate. After you have rinsed them, take a napkin and dab the strawberries so they are not wet. If the exterior of the strawberries is too wet, this will make the chocolate less likely to stick and make the melted chocolate separate.

2. Take the flavor injector and fill it with the vodka. Take a strawberry and stick it with the injector at the bottom of the strawberry (at the peak). Slowly fill the strawberry with vodka. The strawberry may begin to overflow with the vodka and that is when you need to stop. This usually happens with smaller strawberries, but it is less likely to happy with larger strawberries, unless you want a lot of vodka injected in them.

3. Once all of your strawberries are injected, dab the strawberries again to remove any excess moisture from the vodka and place them in the freezer for 10-12 minutes. This will allow the strawberries to set.

4. Melt the chocolate however you choose. You can use the microwave or a double boiler; I used a double boiler. Also, if you are using the white chocolate drizzle effect, place the white chocolate in a squeeze bottle for later use.

5. Take the strawberries out of the freezer and begin to dip them in the chocolate and place them on a cooling rack. If you want to coat them with toffee, roll them in the toffee after your dip them in the chocolate. Once all of your strawberries are coated, take the squeeze bottle with the white chocolate and drizzle over the strawberries.

If you are going to make these, I recommend making them the night before or 3-5 hours before and refrigerate. This will allow the vodka and the flavor of the strawberries to marry in holy matrimony. The juice will be sweet and delicate.

2. Bring a pot of water (or double boiler) to a simmer with only about an inch of water in the bottom. In the meantime chop your Hershey’s Hugs (makes it easier to melt), put in a heat-safe bowl (one that fits right over the top of the pot) and put the bowl over the simmering water to allow chocolate to melt.

3. In a separate bowl melt your white chocolate chips as well (using the same method). Once melted add just a small drop of red gel food coloring to get a pink color (add more if you want a deeper pink).

4. Once all is done remove marshmallows from freezer (see note*), dip marshmallows in the melted chocolate, shaking off excess chocolate as you go. Decorate with sprinkles as you like. Place the marshmallow pops back onto the tray, or poke the stisks into a block of styrofoam, to allow chocolate to set. Enjoy!

* I removed one marshmallow from the freezer at a time to keep the other ones cold while I worked. It makes the chocolate harden faster if the marshmallow is cold.

Recipe adapted from mommygaga.com.

Note: I would only add up to 4 to 5 cups of powdered sugar into the standing mixer and mix it in. Then turn the dough out onto a powdered sugar covered surface and knead in the rest. The dough gets way too tough for the mixer to stir all the dough. Trust me, when I tried to do this it gave me a scare that I broke my precious mixer.

2. Transfer the dough to the clean, powdered sugar coated surface and knead, adding more powdered sugar as needed (up to 1 cup) until the dough is smooth, pliable and slightly tacky, about 5 minutes.

Note: After every cup of powdered sugar I kneaded into the rest of the dough, I added 1 tablespoon of water. The end result of the dough should be smooth.

3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Flatten 1 piece into a disk. (Cover the rest with plastic wrap). Add a few drops each of food coloring and extract to the center of the dough; fold in the sides and pinch closed, then knead until the color is distributed.

4. Lightly coat a large piece of parchment paper with cooking spray lined on a baking sheet. Set aside. Roll out the colored dough on a separate sheet of parchment paper until 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into hearts using 1-inch cookie cutters. Transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining sections of dough, using different colors and extracts. Let the hearts sit at room temperature, uncovered, until dry and hard, about 24 hours. Write messages on hearts using food decorating pens. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Recipe adapted from the Food Network Magazine

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Place the lobsters into the water and boil them for about 15 minutes. The general rule is to boil 10 minutes per every pound. When they are done, remove them from the water and let them cool for a few minutes.

In the meantime, boil your potatoes and corn until tender, 15 minutes. Drain off the water and toss the potatoes and corn with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, the Old Bay and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Reserve the rest of the melted butter for lobster dipping.

If you want to make actual drawn butter, you slowly heat up the remaining butter until you see a foam on top. Skim that off. The milk solids will drop to the bottom of the butter, so go ahead and strain the butter into a small dish. Voila! You now have drawn butter. Butter, butter, butter.

As far as how to correctly remove the meat from a lobster, I’m no expert. What we did was twist off the legs first and suck out the meat/juices. If you have to pull the leg shells apart at the joints to get more meat, DO IT.

Then you start to pull off the tail and pull the meat out of there and any place else that you can find meat.

Dip the lobster meat in the melted butter and serve with the corn and potatoes.

Form the dough into 2 balls, then roll the balls out into 16″ logs. Cover each log with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 305ºF. Slice each log into 1/3″ slices. Place slices 2″ apart on a baking sheet and bake 1 sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes, until edges are slightly golden-brown. Use a thin spatula to transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining slices.

For the hearts, in a large saucepan over high heat, boil cranberry juice for 10-15 minutes, until reduced to about 1/2 cup. Remove from heat until ready to use.

To place hearts on cookies, use a small pastry brush or spoon to create hearts on each warm cookie. Allow to set for about 5 minutes prior to serving.

Store in an airtight container.