#AND I THINK MY HEART IS MELTING INTO CHERRY PIE FILLING AND WHIPPED CREAM

[yamikawaii]

MINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINE

MINE AND ONLY MINE

Sincerely, 🤍🤍 Yoomtah 🤍🤍

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[maggiemaybe160]

Birthday Wishes

Super Angst Fic Ahead. You’ve been warned. Also read on Ao3. Thank you @nickelkeep​ for the beta and cheerleading. <3 

Dean doesn’t celebrate his birthday anymore. He hasn’t for years.

There are pictures of the first and happiest birthdays. They’re tucked away in a box in a storage unit filled with hunter’s gear and booby traps. Dean hasn’t actually seen them since he was a child. There’s a picture of a very tired Mary Winchester beaming as he holds her baby. John is sitting on the edge of her hospital bed, pride written all over him as he wraps an arm around his wife and grins at the camera. There’s another one where Dean is sitting in front of a cake with a big candle number one. Both of his hands are embedded in the cake, frosting oozing out from between his fingers. There’s one from when he turned four and he’s offering his slice of cake to his infant brother as Mary and John laugh.

Dean remembers his first birthday without his mom. He was turning five. He remembers his father crying. There were empty bottles all around the room and Dean remembers picking one up and blowing air into it to make it whistle. His dad had snatched it out of his hands and told Dean not to touch them.

“What day is today?” Dean had asked.

“January 24,” his dad had answered, showing him on the calendar.

“That’s my birthday,” Dean had announced proudly.

“Fuck,” was the only answer he had gotten. Then his dad started crying harder. So when Sam started to cry, Dean went to his crib and lulled him back to sleep by singing Happy Birthday.

Dean remembers the birthday he got back to the motel and found a sheet cake with a note taped to it. His dad had left some money for a pizza and an excuse of a job with “PS. Happy Birthday, Son” scrawled at the bottom. Sam had sung the song and Dean announced they were having cake for dinner. Sam had cheered, but Dean knew by then that their dad never left enough money for his days of absence.

Dean remembers when his first day at a new school was on his birthday. He was in the sixth grade and hid in the bathroom during lunch so he could cry. After school, his dad took him out to test out the sawed-off he’d made the week before.

He remembers screaming after the Impala, standing at the edge of Bobby’s driveway, tears running down his face as his father left him behind. Bobby hadn’t said anything about the tears. He’d waited until Dean was through before bringing him inside and washing him up. When Dean sat down at the dinner table, he asked why Sam was grinning from ear to ear.

“Dad just left us, you dope. Why’re you happy?”

“It’s your birthday,” Sam had answered, swinging his legs under the table. Bobby walked in holding a lasagna with candles in it and the two of them sang. “Make a wish!” Sam had ordered as soon as the song was over. Dean doesn’t remember his wish, but he remembers closing his eyes and thinking about it before blowing out the candles.

“The first pie burned, so we can have the second for dessert,” Bobby had promised as they dug into their dinner.

There was the birthday that his dad came back early for. He’d wanted it to be a surprise for Dean. Sam was on a sleepover at one of his friends’ houses and Dean… Dean was having a sleepover in his motel room with a boy from school. John didn’t wait for the other sixteen-year-old to leave before he hit Dean so hard he was seeing stars. It was the first time he was called a fag. It was the first time the beating he was receiving wasn’t for something to do with hunting or his father’s drinking. It was the first time he heard someone try to stand up for him, the boy he was with screaming for John to stop.

His seventeenth birthday, he was already out of high school. He’d dropped out to become his father’s soldier. It was drilled into him that he was nothing more than a soldier, and a poor one at that. He stole the keys from his father and woke Sam up at the crack of dawn. They took Baby out for a spin. Dean was tempted to keep driving forever. He almost did. They stopped at a diner and ordered everything on the menu, slapping their dad’s fraudulent credit card down to pay for it all. They worked their way through pancakes and bacon, hot cocoa with whipped cream and a mocha for Dean. There were waffles and sausages, fruit cups and garbage plates. They laughed and flicked food at each other from across their table. And then it was time to go. So Dean drove Sammy to school and went back to his motel room for his birthday beating.

Dean was turning twenty-two the night Sam brought him a pie and a problem. He applied to Stanford. Pride had swelled in Dean’s chest, but his heart was breaking. He didn’t just apply. He got in. He was starting in the Fall and he was asking for Dean’s support and his silence.

“Just until I find a way to tell Dad.”

Dean had promised and taken a bite of his pie.

The last birthday he celebrated was his twenty-fourth. It wasn’t celebrated so much as vaguely acknowledged. Dean and his dad had been quiet, sitting across from each other in a restaurant. Their last hunt was over and Dean scarfed down his burger without question.

“She’s yours,” John has said as he slid the keys to Dean. “If you can take care of her.”

“I will, sir,” Dean said, his hands tightening around the metal. “Thank you.” John nodded and they continued their meal in their own thoughts.

Dean slept in his car that night, stretched out across the front seat as he looked up through the window at the starry sky. His favorite tape played gently and he hummed to it quietly before turning off the car and closing his eyes.

He had wanted to celebrate his birthday with Sam when their Dad was gone and it was just them on the road hunting together. He had planned to get a cake and rent a movie on pay-per-view and announce that this was their dinner. Right before his twenty-seventh birthday, he had electrocuted himself and had a heart attack. Sure, he was going to live, but only because his life was traded with another’s at the hand of a reaper. It was over, but Dean couldn’t shake it. He stood in the bakery of the grocery store staring at the sheet cake for too long before he left and bought a pizza on the way home instead.

“Happy Birthday,” Sam had said when Dean walked in with the pizza. He had a sheet cake on one of the beds, ready with two forks. “Didn’t think I forgot, did you?”

The next year, Dean glared at the calendar. He was supposed to be dead. His dad made a deal and now he was living on borrowed time. If he hadn’t done it, Dean would have died before making it to twenty-eight. He would have died in a car crash, blood running down his face as he melted into the backseat of his beloved car.

“I don’t want to celebrate this year,” Dean told Sam.

“Why not?”

“It doesn’t feel right. I shouldn’t be here. We saved a girl, but we didn’t save anyone else. I just don’t feel like it, okay?” Dean had grabbed the remote and turned on the tv before Sam could answer.  Sam didn’t argue, though. He left Dean alone to watch tv and returned an hour later with a six-pack of Dean’s favorite beer in one hand and a cherry pie in the other.

Dean remembers his twenty-ninth birthday. It was his last hurrah before being dragged downstairs. He’d sold his soul and he would celebrate if he wanted to. They set off fireworks together in the middle of nowhere. They ate bacon cheeseburgers and pie. Dean dragged his party-pooper brother from bar to bar, staying until they were kicked out of each one. Sam waited in the car as Dean went to a strip club, his pockets loaded with singles.

When it was all over and Sam was in his bed asleep, Dean stared up at the ceiling in the dark and whispered, “All hunters die young. Twenty-nine is old enough. Happy Birthday to me.” The first year out of Hell was the beginning of Dean refusing to celebrate his birthday. To make sure Sam didn’t try to show up with a pie or a cake, Dean let himself disappear. Sam didn’t text him to ask him where he was. He didn’t call him. Dean was alone with Baby on his first birthday out of Hell. He spent it staring up at the sky, wondering why Heaven would save such a broken person.

His birthday became a box on a calendar with bad memories. Sam didn’t try to bring it up and Dean didn’t have to hide. Then Sam was gone. Cas was gone. All Dean had was Lisa and she didn’t know when his birthday was, though they fought about it.

“It’s not a big deal. Just tell me,” she said, though her voice was no longer calm and curious. She was getting angrier the longer he kept his mouth shut.

“Drop it, Lisa,” he had warned her, closing his book and getting out of his chair.

“You want the ‘picket-fence life’ as you call it. You want the girlfriend and the son. You want to live in the suburbs and have friends and celebrate holidays, but you won’t tell me what happened to your brother. You won’t tell me where your father is. You won’t tell me why you’re here. You won’t even tell me when your god damn birthday is!”

“They’re dead!” Dean had yelled. “Dad’s dead and has been for years! Sam’s… Sam’s gone! Are you wondering about my mom too?”

“Dean, no. I.. I’m sorry,” she tried, realizing her mistake.

“Because she’s dead too!” Dean continued, every muscle in his body tensed. “What the fuck else did you want to know? My fucking birthday? Like it fucking matters?” She didn’t know it was his birthday that day. “I need some air,” he said, dropping his voice and dragging his fingers through his hair.

“Dean…”

“Don’t follow me,” he said as he walked out to the garage. He locked the door and slipped into his Impala, gripping the wheel until his nails bit into his palms and his knuckles turned white. He clenched his jaw to keep from screaming and when he shut his eyes tight, he ignored the tears that had rolled down his cheeks.

The next time Dean thought about his birthday after that night was when he was sitting with his back against a tree in Purgatory. Benny was sleeping as Dean kept a lookout in the dark, his grip tight on his makeshift blade.

“I don’t know how long I’ve been in this place,” Dean had prayed quietly to Cas as he prayed every night. “I’m not giving up. I won’t leave without you.” He drew a candle in the dirt between his feet. “It could be August. It could be January. It could be my birthday and I wouldn’t even know it, Cas. If it’s my birthday, then I get one wish, right?”

He took a deep breath and blew out the etching of a candle. It was too dark to see, but he was sure the marks were gone, his drawing erased. He remembers his wish. He wished for Cas. It’s the only birthday wish that Dean remembers coming true.

It was Dean’s thirty-fourth birthday when he got to give the Braveheart speech to a LARPing group for his Queen of Moondor, Charlie. He hadn’t realized it was his birthday until after the speech when he was back in his normal clothes driving away with a smile on his face.

“Have a good birthday?” Sam had asked. Dean had felt the floor drop out from under him. He wasn’t allowed to have a good birthday. It had been a cursed day for most of his life.

“I didn’t know it was,” Dean said honestly. He wanted the subject to drop before it entered dangerous territory.

“Nice speech,” Sam said instead of continuing the birthday talk like Dean had expected him to.

“Thanks,” he grinned again and his birthday was forgotten.

The first birthday present Dean received after the Impala was the Mark of Cain. His brother walked out of his life and Cas was far from home. Dean drank more alcohol with the Mark on his arm than he ever had before. His tolerance was higher and his thirst was greater and his home was emptier than ever.

“Happy Birthday to you,” Dean sang quietly to himself before taking another swig of beer. “Happy Birthday to you. Everyone leaves you ‘cause you’re worthless. Happy Birthday to me.” His next birthday went unannounced and unnoticed. Looking back, Dean realized that on his birthday, he’d been slamming his fists into Metatron’s face, the pain from the Mark easing with every swing, urging him to keep going. He had dragged the angel blade down the angel’s chest, eliciting the screams that fed the Mark as Sam and Cas beat the door down. He was pulled away, the world far away under the daze of the Mark. Being forcibly removed from his attack felt like waking up from a fainting spell. His birthday was spent trying to find out how to get rid of the previous year’s gift.

Dean’s thirty-eighth birthday was spent in a jail cell in the middle of nowhere. Dean kept track of the days that he was confined to solitary by etching tally marks in his wall. His birthday was just another tally mark. He sat on the floor with his back against the wall and refrained from praying to Cas.

Dean had already decided that he would say goodbye to all of his family and friends on his fortieth birthday. He was prepared to lock himself inside of a coffin at the bottom of the ocean. He was prepared for it if it meant saving everyone else. Dean remembers wrapping his arms around his brother and wanting to say more. He remembers not being able to find the words. He also remembers staring at Cas’ name in his phone. He was the only person Dean couldn’t say goodbye to. He knew that if he looked into those eyes while he was that weak and heard his deep voice begging him not to do it, he would have given in. He wouldn’t have been able to go through with leaving everything behind when everything was begging him not to.

It’s Dean’s forty-first birthday. He made it all the way to forty-one. He pushes the thought away as he has for every other birthday and makes his way to the kitchen.

“I’m going for a drive,” he announces. Sam looks concerned for a moment before his eyes flicker to the calendar. He nods and continues eating whatever the fuck is in his bowl. It looks and smells like oatmeal, but Dean doesn’t want to dwell on it.

“Have fun,” Sam says. Dean bites his lip and hits the wall gently as he nods before walking away. Sure. Fun.

It takes three hours to drive to his destination. He checks his pockets and makes sure they’re empty before he gets out of his car and walks into the seemingly abandoned building. He walks slowly and looks around at the cracked windows that provide the only light this building has.

“I’m not armed,” Dean says. “No tricks. Just a wish.” A birthday wish. A hand grips his wrist and he feels himself get spun around. He’s face to face with a djinn, his eyes glowing blue.

“A Winchester,” the djinn says. “Where’s the other and the angel?”

“At home unaware. Just me.” He keeps his voice even despite the slight fear he feels pounding in his chest. The djinn’s other hand sparks as he brings it to Dean’s temple. The world slides away and Dean feels himself being caught before he falls.

When he opens his eyes, he’s exactly where he started. In the middle of an abandoned building. He stands up and looks up at the windows. They’re not cracked anymore. He turns to the door and walks to the exit, brushing the dirt from the floor off of him.

“Dean!” Cas runs to him from where he had been standing beside the Impala.

“Heya, Cas,” Dean pulls him in for a hug and closes his eyes as he feels Cas’ arms around him. He’s probably only feeling his own heart hammering away, but he’s sure he can feel Cas’ slamming against his. “Come on,” he says when they break apart.

“Where are we going, Dean?”

“Trust me. You’ll love it,” Dean says with a cheeky grin and a wink. Cas gets into the passenger seat and takes a tape out of his pocket. “What’s that?” Dean asks as he starts to drive.

“It was a gift,” Cas says as she pushes it into the tape deck. Dean would recognize this tape anywhere. He’d made it a long time ago and given it to Cas. He grins as Zepplin plays loudly through the car.

The drive doesn’t take as long as Dean expected, but he’s glad to park and stare out over the Grand Canyon with Cas by his side.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Dean asks, turning the music off.

“Yes,” Cas breathes, looking out.

Dean feels Cas’ fingers brush against his on the seat between them. He laces his fingers with Cas’ without looking down.

“I’m glad you prayed to me,” Cas says quietly. “It gave me a reason to fight.”

“I’m glad you fought,” Dean answers. “So I could see you again.”

A helicopter rises from the canyon and Dean’s eyes go wide. He takes his hand from Cas and throws the car into reverse, turning 180 and trying to drive through the kicked-up dirt. He can hear the sirens. They’re being surrounded. Dean spins the car around again, panic rising in his chest.

“It looks like an army,” Cas says.

“All of this for us?” Dean looks from his rearview mirror to Cas.

“Place your hands in plain view!” The order comes over a loudspeaker from one of the cars. “Any failure to obey that command will be considered an act of aggression against us!” Dean tunes them out as they continue their demands. He grabs his gun and starts to reload.

“What are you doing, Dean?” Cas asks.

“I’m not givin’ up.” He presses the bullets in hastily. “I just got you back.”

“Okay. Let’s not get caught.” Dean looks up at Cas’ words.

“What’re you talkin’ about?”

“Let’s keep going.” Cas’ blue eyes are piercing and pleading. He looks from Dean to the cliff they’re facing. “Go.”

“You sure?” Dean asks.

“Yes.” Cas nods and looks back at Dean. “As long as we’re together.” Dean grins and nods.

“Cas,” he breathes before he pulls Cas to him and their lips crash together. His fingers rake through Cas’ thick hair as his lips part for him. He can feel Cas’ hand on his jaw and his teeth against his lip. They laugh into each other as they part.

Dean nods and floors it, speeding toward the cliff. He holds out his hand and Cas takes it without hesitation, their fingers winding together. The tires leave the ground and Dean suddenly feels weightless. He squeezes Cas’ hand and turns to look at him, wanting his face to be the last thing he sees.

His dark hair is wild from Dean’s fingers dragging through it. His eyes hold all the shades of blue that the sky holds. His lips are perfect and slightly parted, taking in a breath.

“Dean.”

“Cas.”

“Dean!” Dean blinks blearily, the dream tearing itself up and disintegrating. He can’t focus. He’s so cold and tired and Cas is there. Cas. “Let me heal you,” he pleads. His face swims into focus. Why is he here? He didn’t tell anyone he was going to be here. “What were you doing here?”

“It’s my birthday,” Dean says on an exhale. He feels Cas’ hand on the side of his face and wonders if he has enough blood left to blush. Cas is healing him. He can feel the heat of the grace in Cas’ palm. He doesn’t fight.

“You could have died,” Cas says. Is it anger? Worry?

“Not with my guardian angel,” Dean says as he sits up. His head had been in Cas’ lap, cradled gently. He clenches his jaw and looks away from his best friend. “Thanks, Cas.” He looks toward the door and realizes how dark it is outside. “How long was I gone?”

“Only a few hours, but multiple djinn were feeding on you. How did this happen?”

“Come on, Cas. It’s a long drive back.” He gets up at the same time as Cas and walks toward his exit.

“I didn’t know today was your birthday,” Cas says as he gets in the car.

“It’s not important,” Dean brushes it off. “Hasn’t been for a long time.”

“Happy Birthday, Dean,” Cas says quietly.

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[debu-neko-kun]

Annual, Part 7

A continuation of the male weight gain/stuffing/slime expansion story I did for Doom7951 over on DA. This chapter, Dorian finds out what’s behind door number one... 

July 27th, Summer’s Peak Dorian heaved himself out of the tub, pulling himself up using the marble handrails he never imagined using. He leaned on the wall for a moment, certain that it was just the hot water tiring him out. That certainty was dashed with a glance to the mirror, forcing him to face the true culprit: the fat. Nearly every inch of his body bulged just out of the proper natural proportions, from his chubby toes to his soft cheeks. His once relatively flat belly (that he thought was rather average at the time) now seemed like a snapshot from a swimsuit catalog compared to the good three inches of fat that drooped and wobbled in front of him. With a little frown, he turned to give himself a better look at his rump, which was certainly not left unscathed. His near-daily jogging trips had done him no good; he sported a pair of smooth cheeks the size of frozen turkeys, only ten times as squishy. It was no wonder even his tailored underwear felt tight. Dorian’s brown eyes drifted down to his creamy thighs, their pudgy bulging conjuring thoughts of water balloons in summer, and up to the silhouette of the prominent breasts that sat like cherry-topped dollops of smooth whipped cream above the fat round scoop of melting ice cream that was his belly. He reached up and patted his cheeks; the silky flesh squished far more than he’d ever felt before. “It’s… nothing permanent…” he thought. “I still have time… I’ve just been slacking a little is all. I just have to get serious.” With renewed vigor, he picked up the underwear resting on the shelf by the door and slipped them over his legs. His resolution was tempered with embarrassment as he found his underwear covered only half of his rump, leaving a fair bit of butt fat spilling over the top like a pair of overripe peaches. With a little huff, he quickly covered it with his extra-large swimming trunks, grabbed his shirt, and a pair of pants and left for the pool. Down in the lounge, Dorian hovered near the doors to the pool. As much as he wanted to swim laps in the warm glass room, it just didn’t feel right. Not on a rainy day like this, he reasoned. There’s always tomorrow… Regardless, he needed something to do, and relegated himself to wandering the house. He might burn a few calories that way, and with Delta at the market, he’d have free reign and wouldn’t have a chance of being ambushed with more tempting treats. Although, now that he thought about it, he was a bit peckish… After tossing on his shirt, Dorian wandered to the kitchen to find a small snack.  He rummaged through the cabinets and found a bag of trail mix, which was better than the dozens of pastries stored everywhere else. Snack in tow, he turned to leave, but stopped as soon as he saw the curious blue door. He’d almost forgotten about it, he’d been in here so little. And, curiously, there on the counter lay a snake-like key. His key, or at the very least a copy. Dorian slowly walked to the counter, gripping the bag tightly. ‘Should I?’ he asked himself, even as his fingers slowly grasped the key. ‘It’s his private room, after all… but it’s just a room, right? What could be so secret?’ He turned the key over in his hand once, twice. Anxiously, he brought it to the keyhole. It slipped in quietly, and clicked loudly when he turned it. Hugging the bag to his chest, the curious boy turned the knob and pushed, the door opening to a lavishly furnished study. His heart thumped: why had he done that? Delta specifically asked him not to, yet here he was, delving into his secret affairs. It felt so wrong, but the mixture of curiosity and mental boredom made his mind do flips. ‘Here goes.’ he remarked, venturing in to look around. At the back of the room sat a desk covered in writing materials. Two bookshelves stood on either side. The floor was carpeted in dark red velvet to match the couch in the corner and the lining of the cabinet. ‘No crazy dungeons in here…’ he chuckled to himself. ‘Just a regular, private study for reading and writing. Probably business stuff.’ He leaning over to read the spines of the books. Each one held a label as mundane as the rest of the study. “Sales, volume I-IX. Orders, volumes I-XLIX.” he read off, quietly. He was just about to turn away and leave when his eyes fell upon a thick dyed-leather volume sandwiched between the other receipt-crammed portfolios, simply titled “Guests”. Carefully, he slipped the book out and set it on the desk, next to the trail mix. He scooted the chair up and flopped down to a resounding *creak* from the polished wood, but he was too captivated in his little mystery to be embarrassed about it. He slowly peeled back the cover to find a photo of a slender rabbit-boy, likely not much older than himself, clad in ripped jeans and a striped shirt. He was holding a shirt that said “winner”, looking as amused as a moody goth guy could.   ‘A scrapbook of people who won the challenge. That’s sort of cute…’ Dorian thought, and peeled back the page. His breath caught in his throat. There, on the second page, was the same goth guy, only with a slightly different dyed hairstyle. The source of Dorian’s surprise, however, lay in his body, or rather, what his body had become. His plump thighs bulged through the rips in his pants that not only seemed to have gone up ten sizes, but were now decorated in fashionable little chains that seemed to keep the pants from blowing off at this point. His belly hung low beneath his skull-patterned sweater, caramel-colored flab that looked creamier and more malleable than actual caramel. The expression on his face was one of exhausted victory; a stack of pie tins surrounded his chair, his lips stained red with cherry filling. Dorian touched the photo, to make sure he wasn’t just imagining the image on the page, or having a food related dream again. Fingertips touched laminate, but he refused to believe. Was this real, or was it a friendly in-joke? He quickly flipped to the next page. A cat-girl this time, slightly chubby and with a look of cocky bravado on her face. The next page, a rounded mountain of blubber even larger than the boy, laying on a couch with a cake balanced on her belly, plump lips parted between forkfuls. The next page, another woman. The next, another mountain. He randomly opened it the middle to find a photo of a white-haired catboy who looked like he was made of more fat than boy. He stood in what Dorian recognized as the entrance hall, his figure comparable to the paintings of the blobs behind him: absolutely immense in all ways. His belly dipped to the floor in a waterfall of flabby flesh, inches from the marble. Dorian flushed red thinking his immense form was naked, but after some close squinting, the thin outline of a waistband could be seen stretching hard against his rolly hips. A wolf girl was hugged against his side, her hand grasping a blubbery moob in apparent elation. “H-How…” Dorian breathed, sweat beading on his brow. “How does somebody get so fat?” “With lots of delicious food, of course.” Dorian spun in the chair, book in hand. Unused to his new size, his hip slammed into the arm rest, tipping him like a soft cow. The chair crashed to the floor and sent him sprawling onto the carpet with a surprised yelp. The book slid to Delta’s feet, still open to the picture of the half-ton catboy. “I see you’ve found my guestbook,” he sighed. “You know, I would’ve shown you if you’d only asked.” Dorian struggled to a sitting position, face red as his hands. “I-I just, I didn’t-” he stuttered, but fell silent as Delta bent down to pick up the book. “I’m very sorry if I ever appeared a monster to you, Dorian. I just keep rooms like these to preserve a meager private life,” he spoke, and slid back to the bookshelf to deposit the volume in its proper place. “I keep no dangerous secrets here. Goodness, I must’ve been appalling this whole time...” Dorian wilted. “I didn’t mean it like that…” “An utter monster!” Delta lamented, putting a hand to his forehead. “I spend so much time trying to make the food perfect, I forget about the guest…” “W-Wait, really! I’m really sorry…” Dorian tried again, down on his knees. Delta just headed back to the door. “I had such a special dinner planned for today, but I suppose you’ll just want to leave now. I’ll just shred the contract and you can be on your way.” Dorian scrambled forward to stop him, only succeeding in flopping his fat body onto Delta’s tail. Before he knew it, he was spilling out his very heart, on the verge of panic. “Please, d-don’t! I won’t go in here or any other room if you don’t want me to. I really like it here. I really like you. Please Delta, I’m sorry.” For a moment, Delta said nothing. Then, the tail curled around Dorian and gently lifted him to his feet. “Do you… really mean that?” Delta asked, fingers poised on his chin. “W-Well, yeah.” he replied bashfully. Delta’s frown quickly changed to a wide smile, and without another word, he leapt toward him and wrapped his arms around his back. Dorian felt as if he were being squeezed by a warm coil of strawberry jelly, only far less sticky and much more sweet. “Oh, wonderful! I’m so glad you’ll be staying, I’ll make these next few months twice as delicious as the last!” As relieved as Dorian was, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d agreed to something more. ‘At least he’s not mad.’ he thought. ‘And that’s the most important part.’ “Come; we celebrate with sundaes!” Deep growls emanated from Dorian’s belly as he was swept into Delta’s arms. “Double sundaes!” Lost in Delta’s renewed happiness, Dorian agreed, and the two headed for the lounge. September 5th The water rippled around Dorian’s legs as he swished them gently in the waters of the pool, listening to the whoosh of the wind that sent leaves swirling around outside while he caught his breath. He’d completed half of his massive exercise regiment for today, and it was time for a rest and a snack. Delta had left a large bowl of his favorite ice cream by the pool for when he’d gotten out, and he’d finished all ten scoops in record time. It staved off the sweats for the most part, and lately he didn’t feel like he could go half an hour without a bite to eat. ‘It’s only natural.’ he thought. ‘Mountain climbers eat tons to regain their strength. With all the moving I’ve been doing, I have to do the same.” He tugged up on his swim trunks, getting them halfway across the expanse of the two great orbs of flesh under the drooping shelf of back fat before they would go no further. He’d have to ask Delta if the tailor could come measure him again after lunch, and to give him non-cotton clothing this time. After all, why else wouldn’t they fit? The tailor hadn’t even been gone five days after giving him his last estimate—some 350 pounds, give or take, with no scale in the house to confirm it— and already they left him half exposed. It was the heat of the dryer, of course. He was getting thinner with all of his exercising, so obviously it’s the dryer! Happy with the answer in his head, he slipped— rather, dunked— back into the water, sending waves slapping across the surface of the pool. He rested on his back, belly resting against his thighs and his arms at his sides like flabby water wings. Two laps down, two to go.

[pestheart6-blog]

My Favorite Cherry Pie in the History of Ever

No, really, this is the best cherry pie EVER. Nothing hard or secret about it – it’s a classic! Notes included in the recipe for using sour OR sweet cherries.

Cherry pie. It’s my favorite. It is the pie I can’t resist even when I’m already stuffed to the gills. I love the tart sweetness. The bursting cherries. The buttery, flaky pie crust. There are other fruit pies that don’t hold my attention, but cherry pie has my whole heart.

A few years ago, I decided homemade cherry pie did not appear in my life as frequently as it should, and I resolved to change that by establishing it as a tradition. If it’s tradition, it has to happen right? So I decided every 4th of July (or within a week or so if we are traveling), we needed homemade cherry pie. (And let’s be honest, most Thanksgivings, too.)

It took me a few years to get this cherry pie perfectly perfect, but this is the version I’m sticking with forevermore. It’s straightforward. It’s simple. And the flavor is the best I’ve ever tasted (and trust me, I’ve eaten a lot of cherry pie in my day). 

We are going to pretend I don’t already have a cherry pie recipe in the archives. That recipe is almost 10 years old; chalk it up to cherry pie maturity (and a decade of taste testing), but today’s recipe is 1,000 times better. Promise.

Homemade pie can seem really intimidating. I get it! It’s not exactly the quickest thing to whip up on your average Tuesday night. But if you plan a little time, work with fresh, delicious ingredients, and keep everything cold, cold, cold, you’re going to be making pie like a rock star before you know it. 

I’m going to walk you through the steps of making this homemade cherry pie today. Not because it’s hard…but just because sometimes a visual how-to can make all the difference so you can go from “no way, not me, homemade pie is the devil” to “I think I’ve got this; oh yeah, I’VE GOT THIS!”

There’s a lot of information in this post. Read it. Absorb it. Think about it. Take some deep breaths. And then go make the best cherry pie of your life. 

I have a lot of pie crust tutorials/boot camps/lectures already on this site, so I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty of how to make pie dough on this post. 

But I will say that for this cherry pie (and all other pies), I use one of two pie crust recipes:

For the pictures in this post, I’m using the sour cream pie crust. The flavor and tenderness and flakiness is so, so good. To get started, you’ll want to roll the bottom crust to about 12-inches in diameter and gently place in the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the dough leaving 1/4-inch excess beyond the rim of the pie plate.

Homemade cherry pie filling! Could life get any better? 

I include many of these same details below in the recipe, but I’ll outline them here, too:

I’ve tested this recipe using sweet, dark cherries. The sugar level in the recipe is counting on the cherries being perfectly ripe and naturally sweet. If the dark cherries you are using are on the tart side, you might want to increase the sugar just a bit.

I haven’t tried Rainier cherries, although they usually substitute really well for dark cherries in terms of sweetness and flavor.

I also haven’t used sour pie cherries because they are rather hard to find fresh where I live (and the canned varieties scare me off a little because, hello, mushy cherries).

The good news is, I hear it’s pretty darn easy to convert a cherry pie from using sweet, dark cherries to sour pie cherries.

To substitute sour pie cherries, try, decreasing the lemon juice to 1 teaspoon (don’t leave it out completely) and increase the sugar to 1 cup (or slightly more, depending on how sweet you want the pie). 

I haven’t tried frozen cherries (yet!), but I think they could be used with pretty good results as long as they are thawed and very well drained before using. They might be a tad bit softer after the pie is baked – but if they are good quality prior to freezing, chances are, it stands a good chance of working. 

The filling of this cherry pie recipe is as simple as combining all the ingredients together in a bowl and letting it hang out while you get the pie crust in the pie plate. We have a lot of u-pick cherry farms near us; maybe that’s what’s increased my love for cherry pie? Very possibly. 

You can bet just about every homemade pie maker has a pretty strong opinion about what should be used to thicken the filling. Flour. Cornstarch. Tapioca. Clearjel. Fasting and prayer.

I’m not out to make enemies over the subject, but after loads of testing (and so.many.cherry.pies), I stand firmly by the recipe below. I’m not saying this thickener lineup should be used for every fruit pie ever made, but for this cherry pie, it’s money. 

Tapioca flour/starch + a little bit of cornstarch. The combination creates a perfectly set cherry pie filling that isn’t cloudy or glumpy with weird gelatinous blogs hanging around.

I know tapioca flour isn’t the most common pantry ingredient in the world (we happen keep it on hand 24/7 for this Brazilian cheese bread that gets made at least weekly), but it’s worth grabbing for this pie recipe. It’s widely available in many grocery stores, even my small town grocery store, in the baking aisle (Bob’s Red Mill is a popular brand) and definitely available online. 

Does using tapioca flour vs 100% cornstarch make a difference? YES! It’s what transitioned my cherry pie from pretty good to really amazing. 

As I mention in the recipe below and already once above, keeping the pie dough chilled is the key to success. Warm pie dough is a recipe for disaster. 

Roll the top crust out to a 12- or 14-inch circle and cut 10-12 thick strips. Scoop the pie filling into the pie plate and get to work on that lattice crust! 

Yes, you can bypass the lattice crust and just slap on a whole top crust, cut a few vents and toss in the oven.

But where’s the fun in that? Plus, I submit that creating a lattice-topped pie might be one of the most satisfying endeavors of my life. And also, cherry pie JUST NEEDS A LATTICE TOP. 

You can see from the quick little collage below that it’s really just a matter of lifting the right pie dough strips in order to lay down a horizontal lattice strip…and repeating that several times. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The strips don’t all have to be the exact same size. Pies should have personality! 

Just go for it. You’ll be glad you did. 

Once the lattice top has been lovingly and carefully assembled (work quickly so the pie strips stay cold and don’t get warm and melty in your grubby little hands!), trim the lattice strips evenly with the bottom crust. 

Now take the bottom crust and roll/fold it up and over creating a lip that sits right on the edge of the pie plate. Press gently toward the inner edge of the pie to seal the edges and trap the ends of the lattice strips. 

With that thicker edge, you can flute the edges of the pie all the way around. Again, this is another aspect of homemade pie making that doesn’t have to be perfect. And it’s also another area that should go quickly so the warmth of your little fingies doesn’t melt the butter in the pie crust.

Refrigerate that pie for at least 30 minutes! An hour is even better. You want to make sure the pie crust is really, really cold. I wouldn’t let it hang out in the fridge much past an hour – the risk of a soggy bottom crust is not worth it, in my opinion. 

I like to brush the top of the pie with a simple egg wash. This is optional. But it greatly enhances the ability of that pie to get the perfectly shiny/golden vibe going on that definitely increases the pie rock star feelings. 

Pop that pie on a foil- or parchment-lined baking sheet (trust me, it probably will bubble over a bit – totally normal – and easy cleanup will be your friend). Bake it at 400 degrees for about an hour. Watch closely. Every oven differs a bit in oven temp.

If the top or outer crust is over browning but the bottom crust (looking through a glass plate) or filling needs more time, tent the top of the pie with foil to continue baking. 

Now for the hard part. As appealing as it is to dig into warm pie, if you don’t want a soupy mess running all over your plate (and probably your pants), let the pie cool. It doesn’t have to cool completely, but I recommend a 2-3 hour cooling period so the filling has time to set up.

If you cut into it too early, you’re going to cry big buckets of tears and insist the recipe is flawed or that I was totally off on my thickener soapbox. Cooling it for the right amount of time means perfect pie. And if I’m being honest, I actually prefer my cherry pie at room temp. It’s the best.

Ok, there you have it! My favorite cherry pie in the history of ever. 

I wouldn’t consider myself the best pie maker in the world, and I certainly don’t make pie on the weekly, but I’ve come to really love the pie making process (even the frustrating moments).

There’s just something magical and so utterly self-confidence boosting about taking a homemade pie out of the oven. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to hearing angels sing in my kitchen.

And embarrassing as it is to admit, I’ve actually been known to say these words as I stare lovingly at the piping hot pie in my oven mitt clad hands: “oh my gosh, I’m amazing.” Homemade pie will do that to you. 

Here is a quick list of all the tools/ingredients I use for this cherry pie (and for most of my pie-making endeavors). The right tools make all the difference. Affiliate links included for products I’ve purchased from Amazon.

Now go make yourself some cherry pie! 

Yield: 9-inch pie

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Additional Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Total Time: 5 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

Double crust 9-inch pie dough (see note for recipes)

For the cherry pie filing:

5 cups (about 28-30 ounces) pitted sweet, dark cherries - you'll start with around 2 pounds whole fruit (see note for sour pie cherries)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1-2 medium lemons)

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup (5.75 ounces) granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarse, kosher salt (use 1/4 teaspoon for table salt)

1/3 cup (1.5 ounces) tapioca starch/flour (see note)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon butter

Egg wash:

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons water

2 teaspoons cream or milk

Instructions

Keep all ingredients/pie crust as cold as possible throughout the making process to ensure the most delicious pie ever! Roll out bottom pie crust according to pie dough recipe instructions and place in the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate (I use a glass pie plate). Trim edges leaving 1/4-inch excess from outer rim of pie plate. Refrigerate until filling is ready.

For the filling, in a large bowl, combine the pitted cherries, lemon juice, almond extract, sugar, salt, tapioca starch and cornstarch. Mix until well combined. Set aside.

Roll out top crust to 10-inch diameter and cut into 10-12 strips (I like to cut thicker 3/4- to 1-inch strips).

Scoop cherry pie filling evenly into refrigerated bottom crust, scraping out all the sugar and liquid. Dot the top with 1 tablespoon butter (pinched or cut into small pieces).

Weave strips on top of the filling for a lattice crust (see above pictures in post for how-to). Trim lattice strips evenly with bottom crust. Fold bottom crust up and over evenly with edge of pie plate and press/pinch to seal. Flute the edges of the pie crust.

Refrigerate the pie for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour to make sure the top crust is completely chilled.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place the pie on a parchment or foil-lined baking pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly and thickened (will thicken more as it cools). The exact time will depend on type of pie plate, thickness of crust, if pie was refrigerated, etc.

Let the pie cool for 2-3 hours before serving (if it's too warm, the filling will be soupy). The pie can be covered and kept at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Notes

Pie Crust: I use either this recipe or this recipe for flaky, easy to work with pie dough.

Cherries: I have not tried this pie with frozen cherries; if doing so, I highly recommend thawing and draining thoroughly before using. For sour pie cherries, decrease the lemon juice to 1 teaspoon and increase the sugar to 1 cup (or more, depending on how sweet you want the pie).

Sugar: For any type of cherry, the exact amount of sugar really depends on the sweetness of the fruit. Even dark, sweet cherries can be quite tart depending on when they were picked. The 3/4 cup sugar called for in this recipe for dark, sweet cherries assumes the fruit is perfectly ripe and sweet. If they are slightly underripe and a little more tart, increase the sugar by 1/4 cup.

Almond Extract: I normally do not like almond flavor in hardly anything - I almost always leave it out if it's called for in a recipe, but I promise, the almond extract is everything in this recipe! That small 1/4 teaspoon adds the best complimentary flavor to the cherries. Don't leave it out!

Tapioca Flour/Cornstarch: I like a pretty firm cherry pie filling and after a lot of experimenting I really prefer this lineup of tapioca flour with a little bit of cornstarch. It gives the best texture without being glumpy and globby. Tapioca flour/starch is pretty easily found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores (definitely in stores with bulk bins); can also be ordered online. Alternately, you can grind minute tapioca or other tapioca pearls until finely ground.

Make-Ahead: Pie can be made start to finish and cooled 1-2 days ahead of time. Cover well and keep at room temp. Warm in the oven (250 degree oven for 10-15 minutes) or individual pieces in the microwave. I haven't frozen the unbaked or baked pie.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Posted on July 11, 2019 by Mel

Source: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/my-favorite-cherry-pie-in-the-history-of-ever/

[cookszone-blog]

20 Chocolate Dessert Recipes for a Sweet Valentine...

New Post has been published on http://healthy-cook.com/20-chocolate-dessert-recipes-for-a-sweet-valentine/

20 Chocolate Dessert Recipes for a Sweet Valentine...

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[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

I don’t usually put a lot of time into dessert, but Valentine’s Day is an exception—the holiday just isn’t complete without something sweet. And when it comes to Valentine’s desserts, nothing beats chocolate. There’s no better time to make the chocolate desserts you’ve been dreaming about all year, but have avoided for one reason or another. From meringue cake with raspberry sauce to the most intense dark chocolate ice cream and the ultimate chocolate chip cookies, we’ve got 19 chocolate-heavy recipes to show your special someone how much you care about them.

Cakes and Pies

Devil’s Food Cake

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

There isn’t anything quite like a layer cake to celebrate an occasion, and there’s nothing like a towering devil’s food cake to pull out all the stops for a Valentine’s Day dessert. And the best part is that this cake is a cinch to make: You don’t even need a stand mixer for the cake itself. All you need is one bowl and some good chocolate and Dutch-process cocoa powder. If you want to really double up on the chocolate, you can frost the cake with chocolate Swiss buttercream, but you could also opt for contrasting layers of cake and tangy cream cheese buttercream. Either way, it’s a showstopper of a dessert.

Get the recipe for Devil’s Food Cake »

Chocolate Meringue Cake With Whipped Cream and Raspberries

[Photograph: Nila Jones]

This elegant dessert is deceptively easy to make—French meringue is simpler than other varieties and bakes right on top of the chocolate cakes. Once the cakes and meringues are baked, all you have to do is assemble them with whipped cream and a fruity raspberry sauce.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Meringue Cake With Whipped Cream and Raspberries »

Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

A vibrantly pink cherry whipped cream makes this layer cake perfect for Valentine’s Day. The whipped cream is flavored with powdered freeze-dried cherries, which have the benefit of acting as a stabilizer. As for the cake itself, you can flavor it with either natural or Dutch process cocoa—the former will emphasize the dessert’s fruitiness, while the latter has a pleasant earthiness.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake »

Texas Sheet Cake

[Photograph: Carrie Vasios Mullins]

Our version of this classic dessert stays pretty traditional—we make the batter for the thin buttermilk cake with a melted butter/boiling water combination and top the cake with chocolate icing and toasted pecans. This might seem a little oversized for date night, but nothing says “I love you” like a week’s worth of dessert.

Get the recipe for Texas Sheet Cake »

One-Bowl Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

[Photograph: Elizabeth Barbone]

Just because your valentine has dietary restrictions doesn’t mean you can’t make them an indulgent dessert. This gluten- and dairy-free cake gets a light crumb from a mixture of white rice flour and potato starch and a rich chocolate flavor from cocoa powder and brewed coffee. The coconut buttercream is ultra-easy because we make it with marshmallow crème.

Get the recipe for One-Bowl Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake »

Flourless Chocolate-Chestnut Torte

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

A little more complex than your average chocolate cake, this flourless torte gets a deep, earthy flavor from chestnut purée and a shot of bourbon. There’s chopped bittersweet chocolate, too, but we don’t use too much because we don’t want to overpower the mild chestnuts. You have two options for serving the torte: at room temperature it is almost as soft as a mousse, and when it’s chilled it turns dense and fudgey.

Get the recipe for Flourless Chocolate-Chestnut Torte »

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

Making a baked cheesecakes is an exercise in patience—not only do they need about an hour in the oven, but they take a good eight hours to set. No-bake cheesecakes take less time and are just as delicious, if a little denser. This simple cheesecake uses a filling made with cream cheese, sour cream, and bittersweet chocolate and a crust made with chocolate cookie wafers.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake »

Double-Chocolate Cream Pie

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Whipped cream has become something of a default topping for chocolate cream pie, but we don’t think it’s the best choice. Our chocolate cream—made with Dutch process cocoa powder, chopped dark chocolate, and espresso powder—is seriously rich, so we prefer to top it with a light, mellow Swiss meringue for contrast. Combined with a flaky homemade crust, it all makes for a dessert that feels both over-the-top and refined.

Get the recipe for Double-Chocolate Cream Pie »

Ice Cream

The Darkest Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

This ice cream is chocolatey to the extreme—it hits the rich, comforting notes you might associate with chocolate while also playing up its bittersweet, fruity side. The secret is steeping tart, roasty cocoa nibs into the base. This ice cream might be a little more bitter than you’d expect, but hey—sometimes love is, too.

Get the recipe for The Darkest Dark Chocolate Ice Cream »

Oreo Ice Cream

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

For something a little more approachable, Oreo ice cream is the way to go. The ice cream has a double-dose of cookies-and-cream flavor because we make the base with Oreo wafers and mix in crumbled cookies at the end of the churn. You might expect it to just taste like chocolate, but the wafers give the ice cream a toasty, distinctly Oreo-like flavor.

Get the recipe for Oreo Ice Cream »

Soft and Rich Chocolate Frozen Custard

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Creamier than gelato and denser than ice cream, frozen custard is my personal choice for the ultimate frozen treat. Frozen custard is typically made with a professional machine called a continuous freezer, but at home you can get a similar texture by adding a little corn syrup to the cream- and egg-rich base. Frozen custard loses its unique texture within a couple hours, giving you and your valentine an excuse to eat the whole pint.

Get the recipe for Soft and Rich Chocolate Frozen Custard »

Cookies

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

[Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]

You might not think cookies are fancy enough for Valentine’s Day dessert, but that’s only because you don’t know how incredibly delicious these cookies are. It took 100 tests for us to develop the perfect chocolate chip cookie, which uses chopped chocolate, browned butter, and an overnight rest. Can’t start dessert a day ahead of time? Our quick and easy chocolate chip cookies skip the resting step but are still sure to please.

Get the recipe for The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies »

Homemade Oreo Cookies

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We’re big Oreo fans here at Serious Eats, so this recipe is a sure way to our hearts. A dusting of Dutch process cocoa gives the wafers their signature inky color and, for reasons we can’t quite explain, 1/4 teaspoon of coconut extract make them taste more authentic. If you’re not sold on Oreos being Valentine’s-appropriate, make them into heart shapes to seal the deal.

Get the recipe for Homemade Oreo Cookies »

Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We first made these cookies to use up leftover Easter candy, but you can also make them by raiding a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates. We use an extra dark, bitter dough to balance out the sweet chocolates—Cacao Barry Extra Brute is one of our favorites. We like to mix most of the candy into the dough, but then top each cookie with a piece or two before baking.

Get the recipe for Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies »

No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

You don’t even need to turn on the oven for this quick dessert—all you have to do is whip up a simple fudge on the stove, stir in rolled oats, spoon it all onto a pan, and let it chill. These will stay good for a month in the fridge, so you can make a batch in the next week or two and not have to worry about forgetting to prepare dessert come Valentine’s Day.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats »

Other Desserts

Chocolate Ganache Truffles

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Few desserts say Valentine’s Day like chocolate truffles. Making them starts with a ganache, or melted chocolate and cream mixed into an emulsion. Once the ganache is set all you have to do is scoop it into balls and coat them—rolling in cocoa powder works, but you could also use nuts or even melted tempered chocolate.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Ganache Truffles »

Marbled Ganache for Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Making truffles isn’t the only thing you can do with a ganache—an equally romantic option is to dip strawberries into it. This impressive marbled ganache is made by swirling dark and white chocolate ganaches together. The basic technique is the same for both, but the ratios are different—go with 2:3 chocolate:cream for dark chocolate and a 3:2 for white.

Get the recipe for Marbled Ganache for Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries »

Eggless Chocolate Mousse

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We didn’t set out to make an eggless chocolate mousse, but when a condensed milk experiment went awry we were pleasantly surprised by the results—without the eggs the bold flavor of dark chocolate can really shine. The recipe has two components—a chocolate base and whipped cream to fold in—and the base can be made a week ahead of time.

Get the recipe for Eggless Chocolate Mousse »

Homemade Jell-O Style Chocolate Pudding

[Photograph: Sarah Jane Sanders]

Mousse is a more cliché fancy dessert, but I will always have a special place in my heart for Jell-O pudding. Unlike the original our pudding is made with gelatin—despite the name, Jell-O actually gets its texture from chemical thickeners. Hershey’s chocolate will give your pudding the most traditional flavor, but I like the depth that comes from high-end cocoa powder.

Get the recipe for Homemade Jell-O Style Chocolate Pudding »

No-Bake Chocolate-Nutella “Cheesecake” Verrines

[Photograph: Nila Jonesp>

These verrines (essentially individually portioned cheesecakes) use chocolate three ways—we start with an Oreo crust and layer on both chocolate and Nutella fillings. The verrines are at their best after sitting in the fridge for a day or two, so plan accordingly.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Chocolate-Nutella “Cheesecake” Verrines »

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20 Chocolate Dessert Recipes for a Sweet Valentine...

New Post has been published on https://culinaryinquisitor.com/20-chocolate-dessert-recipes-for-a-sweet-valentine/

20 Chocolate Dessert Recipes for a Sweet Valentine...

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[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

I don’t usually put a lot of time into dessert, but Valentine’s Day is an exception—the holiday just isn’t complete without something sweet. And when it comes to Valentine’s desserts, nothing beats chocolate. There’s no better time to make the chocolate desserts you’ve been dreaming about all year, but have avoided for one reason or another. From meringue cake with raspberry sauce to the most intense dark chocolate ice cream and the ultimate chocolate chip cookies, we’ve got 19 chocolate-heavy recipes to show your special someone how much you care about them.

Cakes and Pies

Devil’s Food Cake

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

There isn’t anything quite like a layer cake to celebrate an occasion, and there’s nothing like a towering devil’s food cake to pull out all the stops for a Valentine’s Day dessert. And the best part is that this cake is a cinch to make: You don’t even need a stand mixer for the cake itself. All you need is one bowl and some good chocolate and Dutch-process cocoa powder. If you want to really double up on the chocolate, you can frost the cake with chocolate Swiss buttercream, but you could also opt for contrasting layers of cake and tangy cream cheese buttercream. Either way, it’s a showstopper of a dessert.

Get the recipe for Devil’s Food Cake »

Chocolate Meringue Cake With Whipped Cream and Raspberries

[Photograph: Nila Jones]

This elegant dessert is deceptively easy to make—French meringue is simpler than other varieties and bakes right on top of the chocolate cakes. Once the cakes and meringues are baked, all you have to do is assemble them with whipped cream and a fruity raspberry sauce.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Meringue Cake With Whipped Cream and Raspberries »

Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

A vibrantly pink cherry whipped cream makes this layer cake perfect for Valentine’s Day. The whipped cream is flavored with powdered freeze-dried cherries, which have the benefit of acting as a stabilizer. As for the cake itself, you can flavor it with either natural or Dutch process cocoa—the former will emphasize the dessert’s fruitiness, while the latter has a pleasant earthiness.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake »

Texas Sheet Cake

[Photograph: Carrie Vasios Mullins]

Our version of this classic dessert stays pretty traditional—we make the batter for the thin buttermilk cake with a melted butter/boiling water combination and top the cake with chocolate icing and toasted pecans. This might seem a little oversized for date night, but nothing says “I love you” like a week’s worth of dessert.

Get the recipe for Texas Sheet Cake »

One-Bowl Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

[Photograph: Elizabeth Barbone]

Just because your valentine has dietary restrictions doesn’t mean you can’t make them an indulgent dessert. This gluten- and dairy-free cake gets a light crumb from a mixture of white rice flour and potato starch and a rich chocolate flavor from cocoa powder and brewed coffee. The coconut buttercream is ultra-easy because we make it with marshmallow crème.

Get the recipe for One-Bowl Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake »

Flourless Chocolate-Chestnut Torte

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

A little more complex than your average chocolate cake, this flourless torte gets a deep, earthy flavor from chestnut purée and a shot of bourbon. There’s chopped bittersweet chocolate, too, but we don’t use too much because we don’t want to overpower the mild chestnuts. You have two options for serving the torte: at room temperature it is almost as soft as a mousse, and when it’s chilled it turns dense and fudgey.

Get the recipe for Flourless Chocolate-Chestnut Torte »

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

Making a baked cheesecakes is an exercise in patience—not only do they need about an hour in the oven, but they take a good eight hours to set. No-bake cheesecakes take less time and are just as delicious, if a little denser. This simple cheesecake uses a filling made with cream cheese, sour cream, and bittersweet chocolate and a crust made with chocolate cookie wafers.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake »

Double-Chocolate Cream Pie

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Whipped cream has become something of a default topping for chocolate cream pie, but we don’t think it’s the best choice. Our chocolate cream—made with Dutch process cocoa powder, chopped dark chocolate, and espresso powder—is seriously rich, so we prefer to top it with a light, mellow Swiss meringue for contrast. Combined with a flaky homemade crust, it all makes for a dessert that feels both over-the-top and refined.

Get the recipe for Double-Chocolate Cream Pie »

Ice Cream

The Darkest Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

This ice cream is chocolatey to the extreme—it hits the rich, comforting notes you might associate with chocolate while also playing up its bittersweet, fruity side. The secret is steeping tart, roasty cocoa nibs into the base. This ice cream might be a little more bitter than you’d expect, but hey—sometimes love is, too.

Get the recipe for The Darkest Dark Chocolate Ice Cream »

Oreo Ice Cream

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

For something a little more approachable, Oreo ice cream is the way to go. The ice cream has a double-dose of cookies-and-cream flavor because we make the base with Oreo wafers and mix in crumbled cookies at the end of the churn. You might expect it to just taste like chocolate, but the wafers give the ice cream a toasty, distinctly Oreo-like flavor.

Get the recipe for Oreo Ice Cream »

Soft and Rich Chocolate Frozen Custard

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Creamier than gelato and denser than ice cream, frozen custard is my personal choice for the ultimate frozen treat. Frozen custard is typically made with a professional machine called a continuous freezer, but at home you can get a similar texture by adding a little corn syrup to the cream- and egg-rich base. Frozen custard loses its unique texture within a couple hours, giving you and your valentine an excuse to eat the whole pint.

Get the recipe for Soft and Rich Chocolate Frozen Custard »

Cookies

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

[Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]

You might not think cookies are fancy enough for Valentine’s Day dessert, but that’s only because you don’t know how incredibly delicious these cookies are. It took 100 tests for us to develop the perfect chocolate chip cookie, which uses chopped chocolate, browned butter, and an overnight rest. Can’t start dessert a day ahead of time? Our quick and easy chocolate chip cookies skip the resting step but are still sure to please.

Get the recipe for The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies »

Homemade Oreo Cookies

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We’re big Oreo fans here at Serious Eats, so this recipe is a sure way to our hearts. A dusting of Dutch process cocoa gives the wafers their signature inky color and, for reasons we can’t quite explain, 1/4 teaspoon of coconut extract make them taste more authentic. If you’re not sold on Oreos being Valentine’s-appropriate, make them into heart shapes to seal the deal.

Get the recipe for Homemade Oreo Cookies »

Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We first made these cookies to use up leftover Easter candy, but you can also make them by raiding a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates. We use an extra dark, bitter dough to balance out the sweet chocolates—Cacao Barry Extra Brute is one of our favorites. We like to mix most of the candy into the dough, but then top each cookie with a piece or two before baking.

Get the recipe for Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies »

No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

You don’t even need to turn on the oven for this quick dessert—all you have to do is whip up a simple fudge on the stove, stir in rolled oats, spoon it all onto a pan, and let it chill. These will stay good for a month in the fridge, so you can make a batch in the next week or two and not have to worry about forgetting to prepare dessert come Valentine’s Day.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats »

Other Desserts

Chocolate Ganache Truffles

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Few desserts say Valentine’s Day like chocolate truffles. Making them starts with a ganache, or melted chocolate and cream mixed into an emulsion. Once the ganache is set all you have to do is scoop it into balls and coat them—rolling in cocoa powder works, but you could also use nuts or even melted tempered chocolate.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Ganache Truffles »

Marbled Ganache for Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Making truffles isn’t the only thing you can do with a ganache—an equally romantic option is to dip strawberries into it. This impressive marbled ganache is made by swirling dark and white chocolate ganaches together. The basic technique is the same for both, but the ratios are different—go with 2:3 chocolate:cream for dark chocolate and a 3:2 for white.

Get the recipe for Marbled Ganache for Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries »

Eggless Chocolate Mousse

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We didn’t set out to make an eggless chocolate mousse, but when a condensed milk experiment went awry we were pleasantly surprised by the results—without the eggs the bold flavor of dark chocolate can really shine. The recipe has two components—a chocolate base and whipped cream to fold in—and the base can be made a week ahead of time.

Get the recipe for Eggless Chocolate Mousse »

Homemade Jell-O Style Chocolate Pudding

[Photograph: Sarah Jane Sanders]

Mousse is a more cliché fancy dessert, but I will always have a special place in my heart for Jell-O pudding. Unlike the original our pudding is made with gelatin—despite the name, Jell-O actually gets its texture from chemical thickeners. Hershey’s chocolate will give your pudding the most traditional flavor, but I like the depth that comes from high-end cocoa powder.

Get the recipe for Homemade Jell-O Style Chocolate Pudding »

No-Bake Chocolate-Nutella “Cheesecake” Verrines

[Photograph: Nila Jonesp>

These verrines (essentially individually portioned cheesecakes) use chocolate three ways—we start with an Oreo crust and layer on both chocolate and Nutella fillings. The verrines are at their best after sitting in the fridge for a day or two, so plan accordingly.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Chocolate-Nutella “Cheesecake” Verrines »

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20 Chocolate Dessert Recipes for a Sweet Valentine...

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[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

I don’t usually put a lot of time into dessert, but Valentine’s Day is an exception—the holiday just isn’t complete without something sweet. And when it comes to Valentine’s desserts, nothing beats chocolate. There’s no better time to make the chocolate desserts you’ve been dreaming about all year, but have avoided for one reason or another. From meringue cake with raspberry sauce to the most intense dark chocolate ice cream and the ultimate chocolate chip cookies, we’ve got 19 chocolate-heavy recipes to show your special someone how much you care about them.

Cakes and Pies

Devil’s Food Cake

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

There isn’t anything quite like a layer cake to celebrate an occasion, and there’s nothing like a towering devil’s food cake to pull out all the stops for a Valentine’s Day dessert. And the best part is that this cake is a cinch to make: You don’t even need a stand mixer for the cake itself. All you need is one bowl and some good chocolate and Dutch-process cocoa powder. If you want to really double up on the chocolate, you can frost the cake with chocolate Swiss buttercream, but you could also opt for contrasting layers of cake and tangy cream cheese buttercream. Either way, it’s a showstopper of a dessert.

Get the recipe for Devil’s Food Cake »

Chocolate Meringue Cake With Whipped Cream and Raspberries

[Photograph: Nila Jones]

This elegant dessert is deceptively easy to make—French meringue is simpler than other varieties and bakes right on top of the chocolate cakes. Once the cakes and meringues are baked, all you have to do is assemble them with whipped cream and a fruity raspberry sauce.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Meringue Cake With Whipped Cream and Raspberries »

Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

A vibrantly pink cherry whipped cream makes this layer cake perfect for Valentine’s Day. The whipped cream is flavored with powdered freeze-dried cherries, which have the benefit of acting as a stabilizer. As for the cake itself, you can flavor it with either natural or Dutch process cocoa—the former will emphasize the dessert’s fruitiness, while the latter has a pleasant earthiness.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake »

Texas Sheet Cake

[Photograph: Carrie Vasios Mullins]

Our version of this classic dessert stays pretty traditional—we make the batter for the thin buttermilk cake with a melted butter/boiling water combination and top the cake with chocolate icing and toasted pecans. This might seem a little oversized for date night, but nothing says “I love you” like a week’s worth of dessert.

Get the recipe for Texas Sheet Cake »

One-Bowl Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

[Photograph: Elizabeth Barbone]

Just because your valentine has dietary restrictions doesn’t mean you can’t make them an indulgent dessert. This gluten- and dairy-free cake gets a light crumb from a mixture of white rice flour and potato starch and a rich chocolate flavor from cocoa powder and brewed coffee. The coconut buttercream is ultra-easy because we make it with marshmallow crème.

Get the recipe for One-Bowl Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake »

Flourless Chocolate-Chestnut Torte

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

A little more complex than your average chocolate cake, this flourless torte gets a deep, earthy flavor from chestnut purée and a shot of bourbon. There’s chopped bittersweet chocolate, too, but we don’t use too much because we don’t want to overpower the mild chestnuts. You have two options for serving the torte: at room temperature it is almost as soft as a mousse, and when it’s chilled it turns dense and fudgey.

Get the recipe for Flourless Chocolate-Chestnut Torte »

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

Making a baked cheesecakes is an exercise in patience—not only do they need about an hour in the oven, but they take a good eight hours to set. No-bake cheesecakes take less time and are just as delicious, if a little denser. This simple cheesecake uses a filling made with cream cheese, sour cream, and bittersweet chocolate and a crust made with chocolate cookie wafers.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake »

Double-Chocolate Cream Pie

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Whipped cream has become something of a default topping for chocolate cream pie, but we don’t think it’s the best choice. Our chocolate cream—made with Dutch process cocoa powder, chopped dark chocolate, and espresso powder—is seriously rich, so we prefer to top it with a light, mellow Swiss meringue for contrast. Combined with a flaky homemade crust, it all makes for a dessert that feels both over-the-top and refined.

Get the recipe for Double-Chocolate Cream Pie »

Ice Cream

The Darkest Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

This ice cream is chocolatey to the extreme—it hits the rich, comforting notes you might associate with chocolate while also playing up its bittersweet, fruity side. The secret is steeping tart, roasty cocoa nibs into the base. This ice cream might be a little more bitter than you’d expect, but hey—sometimes love is, too.

Get the recipe for The Darkest Dark Chocolate Ice Cream »

Oreo Ice Cream

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

For something a little more approachable, Oreo ice cream is the way to go. The ice cream has a double-dose of cookies-and-cream flavor because we make the base with Oreo wafers and mix in crumbled cookies at the end of the churn. You might expect it to just taste like chocolate, but the wafers give the ice cream a toasty, distinctly Oreo-like flavor.

Get the recipe for Oreo Ice Cream »

Soft and Rich Chocolate Frozen Custard

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Creamier than gelato and denser than ice cream, frozen custard is my personal choice for the ultimate frozen treat. Frozen custard is typically made with a professional machine called a continuous freezer, but at home you can get a similar texture by adding a little corn syrup to the cream- and egg-rich base. Frozen custard loses its unique texture within a couple hours, giving you and your valentine an excuse to eat the whole pint.

Get the recipe for Soft and Rich Chocolate Frozen Custard »

Cookies

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

[Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]

You might not think cookies are fancy enough for Valentine’s Day dessert, but that’s only because you don’t know how incredibly delicious these cookies are. It took 100 tests for us to develop the perfect chocolate chip cookie, which uses chopped chocolate, browned butter, and an overnight rest. Can’t start dessert a day ahead of time? Our quick and easy chocolate chip cookies skip the resting step but are still sure to please.

Get the recipe for The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies »

Homemade Oreo Cookies

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We’re big Oreo fans here at Serious Eats, so this recipe is a sure way to our hearts. A dusting of Dutch process cocoa gives the wafers their signature inky color and, for reasons we can’t quite explain, 1/4 teaspoon of coconut extract make them taste more authentic. If you’re not sold on Oreos being Valentine’s-appropriate, make them into heart shapes to seal the deal.

Get the recipe for Homemade Oreo Cookies »

Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We first made these cookies to use up leftover Easter candy, but you can also make them by raiding a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates. We use an extra dark, bitter dough to balance out the sweet chocolates—Cacao Barry Extra Brute is one of our favorites. We like to mix most of the candy into the dough, but then top each cookie with a piece or two before baking.

Get the recipe for Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies »

No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

You don’t even need to turn on the oven for this quick dessert—all you have to do is whip up a simple fudge on the stove, stir in rolled oats, spoon it all onto a pan, and let it chill. These will stay good for a month in the fridge, so you can make a batch in the next week or two and not have to worry about forgetting to prepare dessert come Valentine’s Day.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats »

Other Desserts

Chocolate Ganache Truffles

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Few desserts say Valentine’s Day like chocolate truffles. Making them starts with a ganache, or melted chocolate and cream mixed into an emulsion. Once the ganache is set all you have to do is scoop it into balls and coat them—rolling in cocoa powder works, but you could also use nuts or even melted tempered chocolate.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Ganache Truffles »

Marbled Ganache for Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Making truffles isn’t the only thing you can do with a ganache—an equally romantic option is to dip strawberries into it. This impressive marbled ganache is made by swirling dark and white chocolate ganaches together. The basic technique is the same for both, but the ratios are different—go with 2:3 chocolate:cream for dark chocolate and a 3:2 for white.

Get the recipe for Marbled Ganache for Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries »

Eggless Chocolate Mousse

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We didn’t set out to make an eggless chocolate mousse, but when a condensed milk experiment went awry we were pleasantly surprised by the results—without the eggs the bold flavor of dark chocolate can really shine. The recipe has two components—a chocolate base and whipped cream to fold in—and the base can be made a week ahead of time.

Get the recipe for Eggless Chocolate Mousse »

Homemade Jell-O Style Chocolate Pudding

[Photograph: Sarah Jane Sanders]

Mousse is a more cliché fancy dessert, but I will always have a special place in my heart for Jell-O pudding. Unlike the original our pudding is made with gelatin—despite the name, Jell-O actually gets its texture from chemical thickeners. Hershey’s chocolate will give your pudding the most traditional flavor, but I like the depth that comes from high-end cocoa powder.

Get the recipe for Homemade Jell-O Style Chocolate Pudding »

No-Bake Chocolate-Nutella “Cheesecake” Verrines

[Photograph: Nila Jonesp>

These verrines (essentially individually portioned cheesecakes) use chocolate three ways—we start with an Oreo crust and layer on both chocolate and Nutella fillings. The verrines are at their best after sitting in the fridge for a day or two, so plan accordingly.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Chocolate-Nutella “Cheesecake” Verrines »

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20 Chocolate Dessert Recipes for a Sweet Valentine...

New Post has been published on https://cucinacarmela.com/20-chocolate-dessert-recipes-for-a-sweet-valentine/

20 Chocolate Dessert Recipes for a Sweet Valentine...

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[Photographs: Vicky Wasik]

I don’t usually put a lot of time into dessert, but Valentine’s Day is an exception—the holiday just isn’t complete without something sweet. And when it comes to Valentine’s desserts, nothing beats chocolate. There’s no better time to make the chocolate desserts you’ve been dreaming about all year, but have avoided for one reason or another. From meringue cake with raspberry sauce to the most intense dark chocolate ice cream and the ultimate chocolate chip cookies, we’ve got 19 chocolate-heavy recipes to show your special someone how much you care about them.

Cakes and Pies

Devil’s Food Cake

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

There isn’t anything quite like a layer cake to celebrate an occasion, and there’s nothing like a towering devil’s food cake to pull out all the stops for a Valentine’s Day dessert. And the best part is that this cake is a cinch to make: You don’t even need a stand mixer for the cake itself. All you need is one bowl and some good chocolate and Dutch-process cocoa powder. If you want to really double up on the chocolate, you can frost the cake with chocolate Swiss buttercream, but you could also opt for contrasting layers of cake and tangy cream cheese buttercream. Either way, it’s a showstopper of a dessert.

Get the recipe for Devil’s Food Cake »

Chocolate Meringue Cake With Whipped Cream and Raspberries

[Photograph: Nila Jones]

This elegant dessert is deceptively easy to make—French meringue is simpler than other varieties and bakes right on top of the chocolate cakes. Once the cakes and meringues are baked, all you have to do is assemble them with whipped cream and a fruity raspberry sauce.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Meringue Cake With Whipped Cream and Raspberries »

Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

A vibrantly pink cherry whipped cream makes this layer cake perfect for Valentine’s Day. The whipped cream is flavored with powdered freeze-dried cherries, which have the benefit of acting as a stabilizer. As for the cake itself, you can flavor it with either natural or Dutch process cocoa—the former will emphasize the dessert’s fruitiness, while the latter has a pleasant earthiness.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake »

Texas Sheet Cake

[Photograph: Carrie Vasios Mullins]

Our version of this classic dessert stays pretty traditional—we make the batter for the thin buttermilk cake with a melted butter/boiling water combination and top the cake with chocolate icing and toasted pecans. This might seem a little oversized for date night, but nothing says “I love you” like a week’s worth of dessert.

Get the recipe for Texas Sheet Cake »

One-Bowl Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

[Photograph: Elizabeth Barbone]

Just because your valentine has dietary restrictions doesn’t mean you can’t make them an indulgent dessert. This gluten- and dairy-free cake gets a light crumb from a mixture of white rice flour and potato starch and a rich chocolate flavor from cocoa powder and brewed coffee. The coconut buttercream is ultra-easy because we make it with marshmallow crème.

Get the recipe for One-Bowl Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake »

Flourless Chocolate-Chestnut Torte

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

A little more complex than your average chocolate cake, this flourless torte gets a deep, earthy flavor from chestnut purée and a shot of bourbon. There’s chopped bittersweet chocolate, too, but we don’t use too much because we don’t want to overpower the mild chestnuts. You have two options for serving the torte: at room temperature it is almost as soft as a mousse, and when it’s chilled it turns dense and fudgey.

Get the recipe for Flourless Chocolate-Chestnut Torte »

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

[Photograph: Yvonne Ruperti]

Making a baked cheesecakes is an exercise in patience—not only do they need about an hour in the oven, but they take a good eight hours to set. No-bake cheesecakes take less time and are just as delicious, if a little denser. This simple cheesecake uses a filling made with cream cheese, sour cream, and bittersweet chocolate and a crust made with chocolate cookie wafers.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake »

Double-Chocolate Cream Pie

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Whipped cream has become something of a default topping for chocolate cream pie, but we don’t think it’s the best choice. Our chocolate cream—made with Dutch process cocoa powder, chopped dark chocolate, and espresso powder—is seriously rich, so we prefer to top it with a light, mellow Swiss meringue for contrast. Combined with a flaky homemade crust, it all makes for a dessert that feels both over-the-top and refined.

Get the recipe for Double-Chocolate Cream Pie »

Ice Cream

The Darkest Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

This ice cream is chocolatey to the extreme—it hits the rich, comforting notes you might associate with chocolate while also playing up its bittersweet, fruity side. The secret is steeping tart, roasty cocoa nibs into the base. This ice cream might be a little more bitter than you’d expect, but hey—sometimes love is, too.

Get the recipe for The Darkest Dark Chocolate Ice Cream »

Oreo Ice Cream

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

For something a little more approachable, Oreo ice cream is the way to go. The ice cream has a double-dose of cookies-and-cream flavor because we make the base with Oreo wafers and mix in crumbled cookies at the end of the churn. You might expect it to just taste like chocolate, but the wafers give the ice cream a toasty, distinctly Oreo-like flavor.

Get the recipe for Oreo Ice Cream »

Soft and Rich Chocolate Frozen Custard

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Creamier than gelato and denser than ice cream, frozen custard is my personal choice for the ultimate frozen treat. Frozen custard is typically made with a professional machine called a continuous freezer, but at home you can get a similar texture by adding a little corn syrup to the cream- and egg-rich base. Frozen custard loses its unique texture within a couple hours, giving you and your valentine an excuse to eat the whole pint.

Get the recipe for Soft and Rich Chocolate Frozen Custard »

Cookies

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

[Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt]

You might not think cookies are fancy enough for Valentine’s Day dessert, but that’s only because you don’t know how incredibly delicious these cookies are. It took 100 tests for us to develop the perfect chocolate chip cookie, which uses chopped chocolate, browned butter, and an overnight rest. Can’t start dessert a day ahead of time? Our quick and easy chocolate chip cookies skip the resting step but are still sure to please.

Get the recipe for The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies »

Homemade Oreo Cookies

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We’re big Oreo fans here at Serious Eats, so this recipe is a sure way to our hearts. A dusting of Dutch process cocoa gives the wafers their signature inky color and, for reasons we can’t quite explain, 1/4 teaspoon of coconut extract make them taste more authentic. If you’re not sold on Oreos being Valentine’s-appropriate, make them into heart shapes to seal the deal.

Get the recipe for Homemade Oreo Cookies »

Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We first made these cookies to use up leftover Easter candy, but you can also make them by raiding a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates. We use an extra dark, bitter dough to balance out the sweet chocolates—Cacao Barry Extra Brute is one of our favorites. We like to mix most of the candy into the dough, but then top each cookie with a piece or two before baking.

Get the recipe for Dark Chocolate Easter Cookies »

No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

You don’t even need to turn on the oven for this quick dessert—all you have to do is whip up a simple fudge on the stove, stir in rolled oats, spoon it all onto a pan, and let it chill. These will stay good for a month in the fridge, so you can make a batch in the next week or two and not have to worry about forgetting to prepare dessert come Valentine’s Day.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Cookies With Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Chewy Oats »

Other Desserts

Chocolate Ganache Truffles

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Few desserts say Valentine’s Day like chocolate truffles. Making them starts with a ganache, or melted chocolate and cream mixed into an emulsion. Once the ganache is set all you have to do is scoop it into balls and coat them—rolling in cocoa powder works, but you could also use nuts or even melted tempered chocolate.

Get the recipe for Chocolate Ganache Truffles »

Marbled Ganache for Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Making truffles isn’t the only thing you can do with a ganache—an equally romantic option is to dip strawberries into it. This impressive marbled ganache is made by swirling dark and white chocolate ganaches together. The basic technique is the same for both, but the ratios are different—go with 2:3 chocolate:cream for dark chocolate and a 3:2 for white.

Get the recipe for Marbled Ganache for Easy Chocolate-Covered Strawberries »

Eggless Chocolate Mousse

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

We didn’t set out to make an eggless chocolate mousse, but when a condensed milk experiment went awry we were pleasantly surprised by the results—without the eggs the bold flavor of dark chocolate can really shine. The recipe has two components—a chocolate base and whipped cream to fold in—and the base can be made a week ahead of time.

Get the recipe for Eggless Chocolate Mousse »

Homemade Jell-O Style Chocolate Pudding

[Photograph: Sarah Jane Sanders]

Mousse is a more cliché fancy dessert, but I will always have a special place in my heart for Jell-O pudding. Unlike the original our pudding is made with gelatin—despite the name, Jell-O actually gets its texture from chemical thickeners. Hershey’s chocolate will give your pudding the most traditional flavor, but I like the depth that comes from high-end cocoa powder.

Get the recipe for Homemade Jell-O Style Chocolate Pudding »

No-Bake Chocolate-Nutella “Cheesecake” Verrines

[Photograph: Nila Jonesp>

These verrines (essentially individually portioned cheesecakes) use chocolate three ways—we start with an Oreo crust and layer on both chocolate and Nutella fillings. The verrines are at their best after sitting in the fridge for a day or two, so plan accordingly.

Get the recipe for No-Bake Chocolate-Nutella “Cheesecake” Verrines »

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SOUTHERNISM OF THE WEEK I’m losing my religion: Some extreme situation or person has provoked the speaker almost to the point of no return, beyond redemption, to the nth degree. For example, “I’m losing my religion over waiting for the highway department to fix that awful pothole on Highway 20.”  Or “I’m losing my religion over those airlines that waive common human decency when they put customers last … almost dead last.”

Can you hear it? The very air in our town is abuzz with life. Spring has sprung, the clocks have moved forward.  And like clockwork, the weather heated up last week just in time for the Masters Golf tournament and for our Easter and Passover celebrations. 

The latest round of storms blew away the annual tons of annoying fluff and stuff falling from every leaf-bearing plant in the region. Even better, the rains washed down the worst yellow pollen haze in this Southerner’s memory. Our backyards are suddenly dotted with swallowtail butterflies, hummingbirds and bees — all dancing and dipping merrily through the red clover and trumpet vine blossoms.

Hallelujah and Amen, I say. 

Now it’s time to concentrate on the next round of matters near and dear to a Southerner’s heart. Baseball. Spring football training. Spring Teas and weddings.  Late afternoon meet-and-greet cocktail parties. Graduation.

Each activity commands a specialty menu. All-gender finger foods predominate: Sausage and cheese platters. Grilled brats. Boiled crawfish and shrimp. Sliders and spanikopeta. Assorted salads in go-cups.

But for this Oxonian, nothing beats great girlie Southern Tea cuisine. Hot chicken salad in miniature pastry cups. Dainty, crustless pimento cheese and cucumber finger sandwiches. Homemade petite scones with clotted cream and likewise homemade strawberry jam and lemon curd. Petits fours with pastel icing. Pecan cheese wafers. Miniature brownies.

The Tea Party may have originated in England, but Southern Belles throughout the Delta perfected it, in my opinion. During my growing up years, Spring Honor Teas were a ritual rite of passage for young females nearing graduation from high school, or about to get married.

Of course, genuine, properly brewed tea is fundamental to the Tea Party. This means brewing loose-leaf good quality teas (not tea bag stuff). But the key to success for proper Tea party food is to miniaturize everything while concentrating on flavor. Think cocktail finger foods in gloves.

This week’s recipes honor the Spring Tea tradition, but offer substance sure to appeal to even the manliest of males. 

Speaking of Spring Teas, the Cedar Oaks Guild is hosting its Second Annual Spring Tea at Cedar Oaks Historic House on Saturday, April 22. The Tea is one of the Guild’s fundraisers to support maintenance and programming at the 1859 house. Guild hostesses will be dressed in period costumes from the antebellum period to the 1960s, representing the span of time during which the house was occupied as a residence. Tickets will be $22 per person. For more last-minute information, contact Lisa Towery at thetowerys@aol.com. 

SKILLET ALMOND SHORTBREAD

Believe it or not, this fabulous treat works best in a traditional cast-iron skillet. The shortbread is delicious with coffee if not serving with tea!

1-1/2 c all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 2 large eggs 1/2 c white granulated sugar 1-1/2 sticks (3/4 c) butter, melted, cooled 1/2 tsp almond extract 1/4 c sliced almonds 3 T white granulated sugar

Line a 10-inch cast iron skillet with foil. Grease the foil with butter. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Sift together the flour and salt. Set aside. 

Mix sugar and eggs until fluffy, add butter and flavoring until blended. Whisk in dry ingredients until blended.

Scrape batter into the skillet and spread out until it touches the sides. Sprinkle almonds evenly over top. Sprinkle second sugar evenly over almonds. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on rack. 

When cooled, lift foil out of skillet and slide the shortbread onto a serving platter. Cut into wedges like a pie. 

GENOISE SPONGE

The classic European “Genoise” sponge cake is supposed to be somewhat difficult to achieve, but I found this variation in “The Monet Cookbook, Recipes from Giverny” by Florence Gentner and Francis Hammond. The addition of pulverized almonds guarantees the sponge will not pancake! Kirsch is a cherry liqueur, but in keeping with my almond theme, I stuck with the more delicate Amaretto.

1-1/2 c pulverized almonds 8 T (1 stick)  1-1/2 c superfine sugar 5 large eggs 3 T kirsch or Amaretto  1 scant c all purpose flour Confectioners sugar

Grease a springform pan. I use shortening, but butter may be used. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Pulverize the almonds almost to powder in a food processor (I use a small food chopper.) Cream butter and add the sugar until blended and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the pulverized almonds and stir in the kirsch or Amaretto. Mix in the flour last. 

Bake on center rack in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until blade inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool completely on a rack before turning cake out onto a serving plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with fresh berries or clotted cream.

STRAWBERRY SOUFFLÉ

This is a delicate but gorgeous dessert. Be sure to use totally clean and dry utensils because any smidgen of grease could prevent the egg whites from rising. DO NOT OPEN OVEN WHILE BAKING or the soufflé will collapse. The soufflé will begin to fall within minutes of removal from the oven, or as soon as pierced by a spoon.

1 T salted butter 1-1/2 c strawberries, sliced, pureed, sweetened 1/2  to 1 c superfine sugar 4  large egg whites Pinch of table salt

Grease seven or eight 7-ounce ramekins, or a single large round tall casserole dish. Preheat oven to 375˚F. 

Mash the sliced strawberries and puree them in blender or with a potato masher. Strain the puree into a large mixing bowl through a sieve to remove large seeds. This is the most difficult, time-consuming step, so be patient. Sweeten to taste, depending on quality of the berries.

Beat the egg whites into stiff peaks with a pinch of salt. Carefully fold the stiff-beaten egg whites into the puree, folding in one direction only to retain air in the beaten egg whites. Ladle mixture evenly into greased baking dishes positioned on a cookie sheet. 

Place on center rack of oven and lower heat to 350˚F. Bake on center rack in oven for 10 minutes, until the mixture rises above the dish. Remove from oven. Serve immediately while hot, with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and a slice of almond shortbread.

LEMON TARTS

This simple recipe takes advantage of premade pastry. The cook will look like a super star with minimal effort. I prefer Meyer lemons for the zest and the juice, which contain a more intense citrus flavor than regular lemons. But feel free to use regular lemons or even limes.

1 pkg of miniature tart pastries (8 per pkg), thawed in fridge 2/3 c juice  from 4-5 lemons or Meyer lemons  1 to 3 tsp lemon zest, to taste 1-2/3 c white granulated sugar 3 large eggs, room temperature 2 large egg yolks, room temperature 1/8 tsp kosher salt 1 stick (8 T) unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Place the tart pastries on a cookie sheet and pierce bottoms with a fork to allow steam to escape during baking. Bake until golden brown and remove from oven to cool. 

Carefully zest the uncut citrus, being careful not to remove the underlying white pith, which is bitter. Set zest aside.

Squeeze the lemons to make 1/2- to 2/3-cup of juice. Combine zest and sugar in a blender or short food processor; pulse until the zest is minced fine. Cream the zested sugar and eggs in a 3-quart saucepan. Beat in the lemon juice and salt until completely mixed. 

Slowly cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a silicon spatula, until thickened, about 10-15 minutes of constant stirring. 

As mixture begins to thicken, coating back of spatula or spoon, stir in the butter and continue slowly stirring until mixture reaches 175˚F – just below a simmer. Remove from heat to cool. Strain it through a sieve while hot if you prefer silky smooth texture (the zest will be removed).  Ladle into tart shells. Store unused filling in a clean jar. 

Cool completely and refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve tarts, embellish each with thin slices of kiwi or strawberries. Unused curd filling freezes well. 

Laurie Triplette is a writer, historian and accredited appraiser of fine arts, dedicated to preserving Southern culture and foodways. Author of the award-winning community family cookbook GIMME SOME SUGAR, DARLIN’, and editor of ZEBRA TALES (Tailgating Recipes from the Ladies of the NFLRA), Triplette is a member of the Association of Food Journalists, Southern Foodways Alliance and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Check out the GIMME SOME SUGAR, DARLIN’ website and follow Laurie’s food adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

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