Chocolate Sweet Hearts Food

CHOCOLATE ECLAIR HEARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using a 2 1/2-inch heart cookie cutter and a pencil, trace 12 hearts on a piece of parchment paper, spacing 1 inch apart. Repeat with another piece of parchment. Lightly coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray; line with prepared parchment, traced side down. Set aside.
• Make the pate a choux: Sift flour and cocoa powder into a medium bowl. Put milk, butter, sugar, and salt into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, and add flour mixture all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until flour has been incorporated.
• Set pan over medium-low heat. Continue to cook, stirring, until dough pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball, about 1 minute. Transfer dough to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until just warm to the touch.
• Raise speed to medium. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #802). Pipe onto prepared parchment, tracing outlines of hearts and then filling centers. Pipe another heart on top of first layer.
• Place hearts in oven. Reduce temperature to 400 degrees. Bake 10 minutes, then rotate sheets. Reduce to 350 degrees; bake 7 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks to cool slightly. Turn off oven.
• Using a serrated knife, halve hearts horizontally. Arrange, cut sides down, on wire rack. Place rack on baking sheet; transfer to oven. Prop open door slightly, and let hearts cool completely, 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven; set aside.
• Make the filling: Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Pulse chocolate in a food processor until finely chopped. Put 1 cup cream and the sugar into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Add hot cream mixture to the food processor. Carefully pulse until completely smooth. Transfer to a large bowl set in the ice-water bath. Let cool completely, whisking occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes. Pour through a fine sieve into a medium bowl.
• Put chocolate cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add remaining cup cream. Beat on low speed until medium peaks form (do not overbeat).
• Make the glaze: Pulse chocolate in a food processor until finely chopped. Put cream and corn syrup into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until syrup has dissolved. Add hot cream mixture to the food processor. Carefully pulse until completely smooth. Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl; use a rubber spatula to eliminate air bubbles.
• To assemble: Spoon glaze over tops of hearts. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, spread filling onto cut sides of bottoms of hearts. Sandwich tops and bottoms. Serve immediately, or refrigerate, uncovered, up to 4 hours.

CHOCOLATE SWEET HEARTS

Steps:

• In a bowl, whisk together flour,cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Inanother bowl set over (not in) asaucepan of simmering water,place chocolate, butter, and brownsugar; stir frequently until almostcompletely melted. Remove fromheat, and stir until completelymelted; let cool slightly.
• Add egg to chocolate mixture.With a mixer on low, beat until wellblended. Gradually stir in flourmixture (dough will form a ball).
• Divide dough in half; roll out eachhalf on a sheet of parchment paperto a 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer eachhalf (still on paper) to a baking sheet;freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Workingwith one half at a time, flip doughonto a work surface; peel off paper.Using a 2-inch heart-shaped cookiecutter, cut out cookies; place, 1/2 inchapart, on 2 baking sheets. Bakeuntil firm and fragrant, about 8 to 10minutes. Transfer cookies to arack to cool.

CHOCOLATE HEART THROBS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 17-inch sheet pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment or waxed paper.
• Sift together the 3 cups of sugar, the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Transfer to a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer) and blend briefly.
• Whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for 5 minutes. Gradually add the hot water, mixing at low speed just until combined. The batter will be quite thin.
• Pour the batter into the pan. Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (a few crumbs are okay) and the center feels firm to the touch, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan. Chill, covered, until ready to cut the cake.
• With the heart cutter, cut out hearts and place them on a sheet pan.
• To make the marshmallows: Combine the 1/4 cup water, the corn syrup, and the sugar in a saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer. Bring to a boil and boil to "soft-ball" stage, or about 235 degrees F.
• Meanwhile, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form.
• Sprinkle the gelatin over the 2 tablespoons water and let dissolve. When the syrup reaches 235 degrees F, remove it from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
• Pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites. Add the vanilla and add a few drops of red food coloring to turn it pink and continue whipping until stiff.
• With a large plain tip in a pastry bag, pipe marshmallow on half the cake hearts to cover the surface entirely. Top with remaining cake hearts to form sandwiches. On top of the cakes, pipe 2 teardrops in a V meeting at the bottom to form a heart. Sprinkle the marshmallow lightly with red sugar.

CHOCOLATE HEART RECIPE

Steps:

• Boil the sugar, milk, and water to 236°F, or to the "soft ball" degree; stir gently every few minutes.
• Add the butter and let boil up vigorously, then remove from the fire and add the chocolate.
• Let stand undisturbed until cool to the touch.
• Then add the vanilla and beat the candy until it thickens and begins to sugar.
• Pour mixture into a pan lined with paper to stand until cooled somewhat yet remaining soft.
• Gently turn from the pan and cut with a tiny heart-shaped cookie cutter, or cut into symmetrical shapes or rounds.

CHOCOLATE HEART COOKIES

Steps:

• In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.
• Beat in vanilla.
• Combine the flour and cocoa; gradually add to creamed mixture.
• On a lightly floured surface roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Cut with a heart-shaped cookie cutter placing 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.
• Remove to wire racks to cool.
• In a microwave safe bowl, heat vanilla chips and 1 Tablespoon of shortening until melted, stirring frequently. Dip both sides of the cookie into melted mixture (so you make a V-shape from the point of the cookie out to the middle of both rounded tops).
• In another microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and remaining shortening, stirring frequently.
• Drizzle over the cookies.
• Place on wire rack to dry.

MOUSSE-FILLED CHOCOLATE HEARTS

Steps:

• For Hearts:
• Turn two 15x10-inch baking sheets bottom side up. Dab butter on corners. Cover each pan bottom with parchment paper; press paper into butter to anchor.
• Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water until melted. Spread white chocolate over 1 sheet of parchment. Stir semisweet chocolate in clean top of double boiler over simmering water until melted. Spread semisweet chocolate over second sheet of parchment. Chill both sheets until chocolates are dry but still slightly flexible when edge of parchment is lifted, about 3 minutes for dark chocolate and 5 minutes for white chocolate (do not let chocolate harden completely).
• Press heart-shaped cookie cutter about 3 inches long by 3 inches wide into chocolate, forming 12 hearts on each sheet (do not move or lifts hearts). Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• For Mousse:
• Combine both chocolates and butter in small saucepan. Stir over low heat until smooth. Cool slightly.
• Combine sugar, 2 tablespoons water and corn syrup in heavy small saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil until candy thermometer registers 238°F, tilting pan if necessary to submerge bulb of thermometer and brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush, about 4 minutes.
• Meanwhile, using electric mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl until soft peaks form.
• Gradually add boiling syrup to whites, beating until firm peaks form and meringue is completely cool, about 5 minutes. Gradually fold lukewarm chocolate mixture into cooled meringue.
• Beat cream and vanilla in small bowl until firm peaks form. Fold into chocolate mixture. Chill until cold, about 1 hour. (Hearts and mousse can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately; keep chilled.)
• Turn 1 sheet of hearts out onto work surface. Peel off parchment. Cut around hearts, if necessary, to free from sheet of chocolate. Place on baking sheet and chill; transfer trimmings to small saucepan and reserve. Repeat cutting out hearts from second sheet, reserving trimmings in another small saucepan.
• Arrange 12 hearts on baking sheet. Spread 1/4 cup of mousse over each, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top each with another chocolate heart. Refrigerate.
• Using fork, stir dark chocolate trimmings over very low heat just until melted. Using another fork, stir white chocolate trimmings over very low heat just until melted. Using another fork, stir white chocolate trimmings over very low heat just until melted. Dip tines of fork into dark chocolate; wave fork over hearts to form pattern. Repeat with white chocolate. Chill 1 hour to 8 hours. Serve cold.