Heart Shaped Pancakes With Chocolate Food

HEART-SHAPED PANCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a microwave-safe dish for 10 seconds. Let cool.
• Whisk egg yolk into cooled butter with a fork. Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl; stir in sugar. Whisk in egg-butter mixture and 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk until a smooth, thick batter forms. Add more buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time, if batter is too thick.
• Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a nonstick skillet over high heat. Reduce heat and pour batter onto the hot skillet using a ladle. Cook until bubbles form and edges are dry, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook until browned on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a warm plate. Repeat with remaining batter.
• Use a large heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out hearts. Place a few chocolate pieces on top of 1 warm pancake and sandwich another pancake on top. Repeat with remaining pancakes. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

HEART PANCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat griddle to 375 degrees, or heat griddle pan over medium-high heat. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Add egg, milk, and 2 tablespoons melted butter; whisk to combine. Batter should have small to medium lumps.
• Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Test griddle by sprinkling with a few drops of water. If water bounces and spatters, it is hot enough. With paper towel, brush 1/2 teaspoon butter onto griddle. Wipe off excess.
• Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain round tip with batter; twist end of bag, and secure with rubber band. Working in batches, pipe heart shapes, drawing V of batter in center of hearts to fill, on heated griddle. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on the bottom, about 1 minute.
• Repeat with remaining batter, using 1/2 teaspoon butter on griddle for each batch, keeping finished pancakes on a heat-proof plate in the oven until ready to serve.

CHOCOLATE HEART CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 30 regular-size muffin cups. Place 1 marble in each muffin cup between paper baking cup and muffin pan so baking cup takes on heart shape.
• Make cake batter as directed on box. Fill each cup two-thirds full of batter.
• Bake 14 to 15 minutes or until tops of cupcakes bounce back when touched and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on cooling rack.
• In large bowl, beat softened butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla with electric mixer on high speed 3 to 4 minutes or until frosting is light and fluffy. Add food color to make desired shade of pink.
• Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes with knife or use decorating bag fitted with plain tip. Top with candy sprinkles.

HEART-SHAPED CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIRS

Steps:

• Prepare the pastry cream: Cut vanilla bean in half crosswise, then cut a slit lengthwise down each half. Use the edge of the knife to scrape out all the seeds. Discard the pods or reserve for another use.
• Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg, egg yolks, milk, and vanilla seeds in a saucepan; whisk until well combined.
• Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom surface of the pan, until thick, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and whisk to release some steam. Add butter and keep stirring until melted. Pass through a fine sieve to remove any fibrous bits from the vanilla pod. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream to cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 to 3 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner (such as Silpat®).
• Combine butter, water, and salt for the pate choux in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer. Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until a buttery dough forms. Continue to cook and stir until a starchy film forms on the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat and continue stirring for 1 more minute.
• Transfer to a bowl. Add one egg and mix it in with a little dough. Once that's incorporated, mix it in with the remaining dough. Repeat with the second egg. Continue stirring until you have a very sticky dough. Use a spatula to clean off the whisk if necessary.
• Transfer the dough into a pastry bag and snip off the tip making a ½-inch opening. Pipe two 6-inch heart shapes on the prepared baking sheet. Start by making thin shapes and then pipe extra dough to make them thicker. To fine-tune the hearts, dip your fingers in water and fix any imperfections if desired.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until beautifully browned, about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, leave the pastries in the oven, and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Let sit until crispy and dried out, about 1 hour.
• Use a serrated knife to slice the hearts in half horizontally.
• Remove pastry cream from the refrigerator and transfer to a pastry bag. Generously pipe cream into the bottom half of each heart, then place the top halves on the cream.
• Heat cream in a saucepan until simmering.
• Place chocolate chips in a small bowl and pour hot cream over top. Let sit for 2 to 3 minutes, then whisk until chocolate has melted and ganache is thick and shiny. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
• Spoon ganache on top of each heart. Reserve any remaining ganache for another use. Refrigerate éclairs until the ganache is firm, about 15 minutes.
• Place éclairs on serving plates. Fill the center of each heart with raspberries and sift cocoa powder over top. Sift powdered sugar over just the raspberries and serve. (Each éclair is enough for two people.)

HEART SHAPED WHOLE-WHEAT PANCAKES WITH STRAWBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200°F Preheat a large nonstick griddle or skillet over a medium-low flame.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through salt).
• In another medium bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk, non-fat milk, honey and vanilla.
• Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing only enough to combine them. The batter will be somewhat lumpy.
• Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to ladle the batter onto the griddle or skillet. Flip the pancake when the top is bubbling and it is golden brown on the bottom. Then cook until the other side is golden brown. Hold on an oven proof plate in the oven until the entire batch is ready.
• Strawberry sauce:.
• Puree strawberries in food processor to a chunky puree. Heat them in a small saucepan over a low flame, until they are just warm. Stir in lemon juice and maple syrup.
• When all the pancakes are ready, cut them into heart shapes with a heart shaped cookie cutter.
• Ladle about 1/3 cup of the strawberry sauce onto each plate, place pancakes on top and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if using.