Valentine's Day!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to all my cake enthusiasts!

Though this blog post will be going up at the very last minute on Valentine's Day, I certainly can't let the day go by without wishing everyone all kinds of love, peace and happy-ness! (and yes, I did spell it that way deliberately ;o)

I thought I'd share with you all my "Heart Day" projects and sweets! Try not to drool on the keyboard!

Well, I'm nothing if not a hopeless romantic. Since Brian and I only got married a few months ago, we've been having a lot of fun with all our "married firsts..." You know... first married one-month-iversary, two-month-iversary, three-month-iversary...uhh, you get the point; not to mention, our first married trip to the mall, first married sushi date night, first married Christmas... which brings me to the point of this blog post: our first married Valentine's Day!

I didn't have much going on for Valentine's Day (in terms of orders for cake or other goodies), which was nice in a way, because I got to focus on my family and my new, adorable husband, who I'm obviously smitten with!

That being said, here are some chocolates I made several different people, family members and my hubbs...

I made some delicious solid White Chocolate cups with pink vanilla accents - My brother has always loved White Chocolate ANYTHING, so with him in mind, I sent a small package up to Rhode Island the other day... though it will arrive the day after Valentine's Day, I miss him since he moved up to his new school, so I figured I'd surprise him with some "Heart Day Hugs" from his big sis. Hopefully they arrive in one piece, so to speak

I also made some Caramel-filled Kissy Lips and Pink solid Kissy Lips, which I think are SO cute! and really quite yummy!

I then made some of my favorite flavor combinations! (And let's face it, I didn't invent this, but whoever did should be most proud!)

Peanut Butter and Chocolate ...and fresh, hand-chopped, organic peanuts... Any combination thereof is nothing short of edible bliss (and you can quote me on that!)

I made Chocolate cups with those chopped peanuts I mentioned earlier... you might also note the Chocolate Kissy Lips (filled with fresh organic peanut butter!)

And on top of that, layered Peanut Butter and Chocolate cups, with (you guessed it!) peanuts for the crunchy texture I favor so often!

Lastly, and this brings me back to my list of "firsts..."

Well, back when I first met my husband, our first Valentine's Day together was really a very special one for me, because I used to HATE Valentine's Day with a passion. But on this first one with him those few years ago I decided to make him a chocolate cake. Not just any chocolate cake, but a sinfully chocolatey Devil's Food layer cake made with chocolate pieces... that was filled with a homemade ganache and iced with chocolate fudge frosting. What made this cake so memorable was that this was the first thing that I ever made him. And he still remembers it because it weighed what he described as "9 pounds of chocolatey goodness"... I think it might have been what sold him on me way back when.

So, keeping that in mind, I decided to resurrect this old cake, and make it for our "first married Valentine's Day"... Though this time, I made it in the shape of a heart (cue the cheesy music now)... Anyway, I had him close his eyes this afternoon and sat the cake stand in front of him and asked him to open his eyes. They of course, flew open and immediately down to the cake in front of him and he exclaimed (with no prompting from me mind you) "Oh my God!!! The 9 Pound Chocolate Cake!! It's BACK!!!" and jumped up, ran to get a knife and plate (and brought over two cups for milk. I thought it was so sweet that he remembered to share!

But it brought me back to why I love cake (and him) in the first place...

Cake: because I love how people just get so darn excited over something I find particularly easy to do...something so simple...

&

Brian: because he is the love of my life and adds more to my life than I could have ever imagined possible...* swoon *

So with that thought, I leave you with my little homage to the cake I "invented" back when me and my sweetheart were celebrating our "first" of many firsts to come! It's short, time-lapsed and to the point! (PS- the song is thanks to the Plain White T's and is titled "1-2-3-4")

"The 9-pound Chocolate Cake" (and yes, ©) LOL

Enjoy!!

So I guess all that's left to say is...

xoxo

m