Valentine's Day in Rome

I didn't have much opportunity to blog this week because I was enjoying a much-deserved Valentine's holiday. I did manage to write up a couple of chocolate themed posts, though:

Triple Chocolate Mouse Cake

Valentine Brownie Bites

Whilst in Rome, we visited two cupcake shops! It probably doesn't sound very exciting to most people, but in Tenerife I have yet to find a proper cupcake shop, so each time before we venture away, I always research any nearby cupcakeries.

We popped into Sweety Rome for a chocolate brownie with caramel frosting and a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting.

Unfortunately, neither of them was up to much and we were left really disappointed. The caramel frosting tasted very peculiar, the cupcake was heavy and the frosting was rock solid and looked like it had been put on with an ice-cream scoop.

However, we did visit another cupcake shop during our stay - The Perfect Bun. Everything about this place was amazing. As soon as we walked through the door we were welcomed by the amazing smell of freshly baked cupcakes coming just out of the oven.

We tried a Valentine's cupcake (chocolate cupcake with raspberry frosting) and a strawberry cupcake (chocolate cupcake with strawberry frosting) - both were fantastic. The cupcakes were soft and moist, whilst the frosting was creamy and fluffy.

We got to savour these great cupcakes in a cosy little corner filled with comfy furniture and cute baking pictures. There were many beautiful large cakes in addition to the cupcakes. Ian's favourite was a winter-themed igloo cake - he was shocked that everything down to the penguins were made out of cake and not plastic!

We enjoyed so much delicious food in Rome. Slices of pizza were cut from great big slabs - no round pizzas here! Every single cafe or pizzaria seemed to use only the freshest ingredients which made every bite fantastic.

I didn't think Nutella was much of a big thing in Europe - Rome definitely proved me wrong. Sandwich shops served it between bread, bakeries served it inside croissants, pizzarias served it between focaccia and cafes even served small tubs of it to eat on its own! I even found small jars of Nutella which were intended to be used as Christmas decorations!

Due to the snow, loads of the major tourist attractions were closed, but we did manage to visit:

The Trevi Fountain

The outside of the Colosseum - it was closed the whole time we were there!

St Peter's Basilica

Ian was brave enough to climb the 600+ stairs to the top! Even the photo of the view makes me feel dizzy.

I'm really glad to be home - I couldn't stand the cold temperatures any more. Instead of using the fridge in our room, we kept our drinks on the window-sill outside because it kept them colder! 

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Valentine Brownie Bites

These thick, gooey brownies are hiding a delicious secret that you'll love when you find out! Each heart-shaped brownie bite has a square of chocolate baked inside. I chose to bake square's of Milka's caramel hazelnut chocolate into mine, but you can pick whichever chocolate bar is your favourite. Just imagine - Milky Way, Twix, Snickers...So many possibilities!

I made these brownie bites using cute heart-shaped moulds I picked up - making them just perfect for Valentine's Day! These brownie bites can be made using any moulds you like so you can make them all year-round! This recipe made around 8-10 brownie bites using my small moulds.

It's our last day in Rome and we're off for a romantic dinner right now. Which place has Boyfriend chosen for a memorable Valentine's dinner in Rome? A Cuban restaurant... I've got my fingers crossed and I'm hoping for the best! 

I hope you guys all have a great Valentine's Day!

Valentine Brownie Bites

Ingredients

60g dark chocolate

60g unsalted butter

100g granulated white sugar

1tsp pure vanilla extract

1 egg

50g all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

8-10 squares of whichever chocolate bar you choose

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 165C. Grease 10 small heart moulds.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl and leave to cool before stirring in the sugar.

3. Whisk in the vanilla extract and egg then stir in the flour and salt.

4. Pour a small amount of the mix in each mould then place a square of chocolate on top of the brownie mix. Fill the moulds to the top with the rest of the batter. 

5. Bake in the middle of the oven for around 25 minutes then remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Very Berry Valentine Scones

These heart-shaped scones are jam packed with juicy berries and they're just perfect for treating that special someone on Valentine's Day. Do you have any fabulous Valentine's recipes of your own? Share them in the comments section - I'd love to see them!

The scones are more on the savoury-side, which makes them ideal for loading up with butter, jam, Nutella, peanut butter or whatever sweet topping tickles your fancy.

The drizzle you can see on these scones is just melted white chocolate - it didn't come out as thick as I intended!

It really depends on the size of your cutter how many scones this recipes yields. Using a large cutter, I managed to make 4 scones.

Ingredients

200g plain flour

100g self-raising flour

4 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

75g unsalted butter, softened

70g caster sugar

1 egg

100ml cream

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 handful of mixed berries 

A few drops of pink food colouring

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 200C and lightly grease a baking sheet.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

3. If you’re using fresh berries, simply stir them into the mixture. If you’re using frozen berries, make sure they’re fully defrosted then dry them really well before mixing them in.

4. Separately, beat the egg and cream together with the vanilla extract and a few drops of pink food colouring. Pour this into the flour mixture and bring together with your hands until it forms dough. 

5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very briefly to form a smooth ball.

6. Gently roll the dough out to a thickness of about 4cm. Use a heart-shaped cutter to cut out the scones and place them on the baking sheet. 

7. Brush the tops of the scones with milk, making sure the milk doesn't flow down the side, and bake for about 20 minutes until risen.

Valentines Printables

Even though Pink Recipe Box is a foodie blog, I couldn’t help sharing some loved-themed stuff with you guys over the days running up to Valentine’s Day.


Today I’d like to share with you my favourite Valentine’s printables from around the web.

Although printed in Chinese, the instructions for this Valentine’s card are easy to work out. Simply fold along the dotted lines and cut along the solid lines to create your own super-cute card. Unfortunately, I didn't have a Stanley-knife and really struggled with scissors, so make sure you have some sort of craft-knife at hand if you plan on making this card.

Here is a collection of 14 different Valentine’s printables – one to use each day until Valentine’s Day. Each mini-card has been written to pair perfectly with a cheap, yet cute gift – e.g. “I’m nuts about you”.

There is something incredibly sweet and innocent about these Valentine’s cards. I think the cute, almost childish messages go great with the fun images.

This is one of my favourites – it’s a “Declaration of Romantic Intent” with gaps for you to fill in with your own words to make it personal.

I don’t know what it is about the latest moustache trend, or why it’s so cute, but I just had to share this with you. It just begs to be cut out and turned into a sweet Valentine’s card.

These Grade School Valentines just made my heart melt! The colours, patterns and messages are so adorable that I couldn’t help printing them and handing a few out.

Keep checking back on the days running up to Valentines day for great Valentine's ideas!

Valentines Baking Made Easy

Just because you don't have buckets of spare time and wads of excess cash doesn't mean that you don't want that special someone to know you care on Valentine's Day. I'm not sure that the list below actually counts as Valentine's "baking", but they are all really sweet gestures which are sure to please.

So for those of you who want to put in the effort, but just don't have the time, carry on reading for Valentine's baking made easy! All of these recipes are guaranteed to take minimal time and only basic supplies.

Heart-shaped ice cream sandwiches

     Instead of just serving ice cream for your Valentine’s dessert, turn it up a notch and serve your loved one a Valentine’s ice cream sandwich. Take a heart cookie-cutter and two cookies. Use the cutter to cut a heart out of each of the cookies and cut another one out of ice cream. Place a cookie heart on the bottom, then the ice cream, then the other cookie – it’s that easy! You can make as many of these as you like and store them in the freezer until you’re ready to serve them.

 Chocolate-dipped strawberries

What says romance better than chocolate-dipped strawberries? Nothing, that’s what! And now that you’ve got your hands on this easy recipe, you’ve no excuse not to treat your special someone. Melt dark, milk or white chocolate in the microwave with cream. For every 50g of chocolate you use, use about 20ml of cream. Remove from the microwave every 20 seconds to stir and to make sure it doesn’t burn. When fully melted, hold each strawberry by its leaves and dip into the melted chocolate. Try and balance the strawberries on their leaves on a plate so the chocolate doesn’t smudge. Leave in the fridge to set – about 30 minutes should do it.

Chocolate fondue

      Chocolate fondue is a great, inexpensive alternative to an extravagant chocolate fountain. Simply place some dark, milk or white chocolate in a microwavable bowl with some cream. For every 50g of chocolate you use, use about 40ml of cream. Heat this up in the microwave – removing every 20 seconds to stir and to make sure it doesn’t burn. When you have thick, melted, chocolatey goodness, pour into a small serving bowl and accompany with strawberries, marshmallows, cookies, or whatever you wish.

    Sandwiches with a heart window

     Do you prepare your love’s lunch? Then this is a great way to add a bit of Valentines sparkle to their day. Cut the bread into the shape of a love heart using a large heart cookie-cutter or use a smaller cutter to cut the middle section out of the top slice of bread.

       Heart-shaped jellies/jello

These heart-shaped jellies – or jello – are super-easy to make and look incredibly cute. Invest is a silicone heart tray – you’ll find them next to the ice-cube trays in the kitchen section of most household shops. Simply adapt the recipe on the packet of jelly so you have enough to fill your tray. I chose strawberry jelly because it’s red, but you can use any flavour you like – use your imagination. Serve with ice cream or regular cream and you have a sweet Valentines snack.

   Toast with heart butter and heart jam

    Most of us grab a piece of bread and a toaster when we’re looking for a fast breakfast, but why not make it love-themed on Valentine’s Day? Simply make the toast as you usually would, but instead of spreading the butter, cut a heart shaped piece of butter with a cookie cutter.