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Sweet Treats for Your Sweetheart

Strawberry & Chocolate Brownies

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, what better way to show someone how much you care than making a special dessert. Don’t they say the easiest way to a person’s heart is through their stomach?

“Move over chocolate covered cherries,” says Dawn Lungstrom. “I love to make these pretty Chocolate Cherry Nuggets at Valentine’s Day.” When you combine all the flavors, you have one tasty cookie your sweetheart will love. I especially like the additions of pecans to this recipe. You get a nice little crunch in each bite.

My husband enjoys chocolate covered strawberries. This year, I am going to put a twist on them and whip up a batch of Catherine Cappiello Pappas’ Strawberry & Chocolate Brownies. “This is a delicious dessert for Valentine’s Day,” says Catherine. If you love chocolate and strawberries, then you’ll LOVE these brownies. They’re moist, delicious and taste exactly like a chocolate covered strawberry.

Brooke Magnusson’s Dark Chocolate Torte will be a decadent way to end a fabulous dinner for two. I suggest topping the torte with Brooke’s raspberry coulis. It complements the dark chocolate nicely. Since dark chocolate is becoming popular for its healthy antioxidants, I think we can call this health food… right? This recipe is chocolate heaven.

“I made a dessert for our Valentine’s Day dinner and had left over chocolate sauce I didn’t want to throw away,” shares Kathy Griffin. “I dug around in the fridge to see what I had to go with it and this [recipe] is it.” Kathy’s a very wise woman… never let chocolate go to waste! Anyone who loves chocolate will love Kat’s Chocolate Cream Cheese Pastry dessert. It’s so creamy and addictive!

The Kitchen Crew couldn’t get enough of Dee Stillwell’s Kahlua Truffles – they are rich and elegant. “You can make these into other liqueur flavors if you wish,” explains Dee. “Amaretto, Irish Cream, Chambord, Frangelico, etc.” The Crew loved the pairing of chocolate and Kahlua and I bet the raspberry flavor from Chambord would be delightful too. Make sure to use a small cookie scoop to make the balls as Dee suggests. It will make the truffles a uniform size and be very impressive when served.

Maggie May Schill’s Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding (Bitter Blanc) is some seriously wonderful bread pudding. “My husband’s favorite thing in the world is bread pudding,” share Maggie. “[I was] remembering the yummy white chocolate and dark chocolate ganache bread pudding we had on our honeymoon and [started] experimenting.” I kept tasting this as I made the recipe, and with each step the flavor got more irresistible. The recipe requires a fair amount of effort, but isn’t your valentine worth it?!

This year, show how much you adore your valentine by whipping up one of these sweet treats!