Monday, February 15, 2010

My Homemade Valentine

Happy President's Day everyone!  I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's day yesterday!  We definitely did!  I know I've mentioned before that this month we're on a "financial fast" which meant no gifts for V-day this year.  Frankly, for me, I find Valentine's gifts to be overpriced and overrated.  So rather than spin our wheels and spend our money, we aimed for the small and thoughtful this year... and for me, that meant making dinner (spinach salad, flank steak pinwheels, wild mushroom risotto and fresh, lemony asparagus- my own creation!) and yes, it was a really, really good dinner!  :)

J. is a big lover of chocolate so I didn't want to skip dessert.  But at the same time, I'm going through a particularly busy time at work (and an equally busy personal life) so I had to figure out something that wouldn't take too long.  The solution came to me last week during my daily blog review when I was reminded of Bakerella's recipe for cake balls!  Besides having a hilarious name, this recipe looked cute and simple so I decided to try my own spin on it- only I renamed them "cake truffles" so as to be taken slightly more seriously.

Bakerella's recipe calls for red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting which I ADORE- but J. loves chocolate.  So I did a devil's food cake with German chocolate icing (see Bakerella's link above for instructions).  I broke my cardinal rule and used cake mix and store-bought icing, because I was short on time (bad Sarah, bad!)... but I do think you could easily do this completely homemade.  Then I melted a good-quality semi-sweet chocolate for the coating, and added some sprinkles in red, while and gold (a bridal shower gift).  The result?  See for yourself!

[caption id="attachment_2246" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="mmmmm, yummy chocolatey cake goodness"]mmmmm, yummy chocolatey cake goodness[/caption]

Now, I'm a big believer that presentation is EVERYTHING so of course I also had to at least attempt some sort of V-day appropriate packaging.  Since I didn't want to spend any money, I ended up taking an old, standard gift box and turning it into a heart-shape.  To give you an idea of my approach, the below image shows (I hope) how I cut the box bottom.  I left the sides of the box intact and then shaped them to match the bottom, taping them into place when the new shape looked good to me.




[caption id="attachment_2248" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Try to pretend this rectangle is a gift box."]Box image[/caption]

Once my box was in the right shape I covered it with red and white papers.  Not being able to spend money, I downloaded these and these freebie printable papers, originally intended for dollhouses but perfect for my project.  I admit that it looks a little bit like a kindergartner did it, but I like to think it is kind of charming!

[caption id="attachment_2247" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The box, pre-truffles"]The box, pre-truffles[/caption]

Once my box was ready, I decided to line it with waxed paper, to keep it nice for as long as possible.  I simply cut the waxed paper into a heart shape approximately 1 inch larger on all sides than the box, so the paper would line the sides of the box.  To get the paper to fit around the curves, I cut verticle slits into the paper's edge.  Easy peasy.

[caption id="attachment_2249" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lined with wax paper"]Lined with wax paper[/caption]

Next, I glued some red ribbon onto the bottom of the box, for tying later.  And yes, the ribbon was recycled, I didn't buy that either.

[caption id="attachment_2250" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="With the ribbon..."]With the ribbon...[/caption]

And finally I filled the box with my creations.  Voila!

[caption id="attachment_2251" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Just add truffles!"]Just add truffles![/caption]

Before tying the bow, I added another layer of heart-shaped waxed paper, and then that was it!  A cute, homemade Valentine using groceries and freebies, something that still felt special despite the absence of big spending.  J. loved them!

[caption id="attachment_2252" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A little more waxed paper, a bow, and we're in business!"]A little more waxed paper, a bow, and we're in business![/caption]

I think this would make such a cute thank you gift for someone throwing a shower- or maybe even a groom's gift.  As for me, I'll be incorporating them into my traditional repertoire of holiday baking from now on!

How did you celebrate Valentine's day?

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