White Chocolate Raspberry Cream Puffs

Light and airy cream puffs dipped in white chocolate and filled with a delicious raspberry whipped cream. These beautiful cream puffs make for the perfect Valentine's Day treat!

I can't believe that Valentine's Day is less than a week away! Are you celebrating early this weekend? Or waiting to celebrate on Wednesday? We are planning on going out for dinner tomorrow night but otherwise our Valentine's Day celebration will be low key.  

I have been having so much fun playing around with pate a choux party. I love how light and airy it is! I knew I wanted to make a light and refreshing Valentine's Day treat and pate a choux was the obvious choice. I knew I wanted to include some chocolate in the dessert - since it is for Valentine's Day. I decided to go with a white chocolate glaze to add sweetness. The raspberry whipped cream filling is so light and airy but totally delicious with just the right amount of raspberry flavour. I love the white and pink colour combination - its perfect for Valentines Day! 

White Chocolate Raspberry Cream Puffs

Makes: 18 Cream Puffs

Ingredients 

1 c water

1/2 c butter, cut into cubes

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 c flour

4 eggs

1 c heavy cream

1-3 tbsp icing sugar, depending on sweetness level of raspberries

½ c raspberries, pureed

3/4 c white chocolate chips

sprinkles (optional)

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Directions

Pre-heat oven to 425F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine the water, butter, salt & sugar. Simmer until the butter has melted and the mixture comes to a light boil. Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Place the mixture back on the heat and continue to stir until the mixture starts to come off the sides of the pan and a ball forms.

Transfer mixture to stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix over medium speed for 2-3 minutes, allowing mixture to cool slightly. Beat in eggs one at at time.  The mixture will break or come apart with each addition but should come back together before you add the additional egg. Your pastry should be shinny and of a smooth consistency.

Transfer pastry to a piping back fitted with a large round tip (I used a coupler) and pipe 1 inch rounds, about 2 inches apart onto baking sheet. Use a small amount of water to smooth out peak on each dough mound. 

Bake for 10 minutes for at 425F, then drop oven temperature to 375F and bake for 10 -15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow shells to cool completely before filling.

In a chilled bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the whipping cream and icing sugar. Whip mixture on high speed for 3-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Fold in raspberry puree. 

Fill a pipping bag fitted with a large round tip (I used Wilton 12) with your raspberry whipped cream filling. Poke your pipping tip into the bottom of a cooled cream puff shell. Pipe filling into bottom of each shell until filling starts to ooze out. Dipped filled cream puffs into white chocolate and top with sprinkles if desired. 

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

A decadent, moist chocolate cupcake frosted with a luscious fresh strawberry buttercream and topped with a succulent chocolate covered strawberry! Perfect for Valentine's Day!

It only seemed appropriate to kick off February with these chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes! I am so excited for all things Valentine's Day! Give me all the pink, chocolate and sappy rom-coms! Is there anything more quintessentially Valentine's Day than chocolate covered strawberries? I knew that I wanted to take this Valentine's Day classic and turn it into a cupcake. The fresh strawberry buttercream is seriously delicious! The strawberry puree not only adds flavour to the buttercream but also turns it a beautiful soft pink colour. I went with my Classic Chocolate Cupcake recipe for the base - why mess with a good thing? And topped the cupcakes with their very own chocolate covered strawberry - can you tell I am huge fan of two desserts in one?Whether its your BFF, sweetheart or child, your valentine is sure to love these cupcakes!  

Tips for Achieving the Perfect Chocolate Covered Strawberries

• When melting your chocolate for your berries, I would recommend melting it in the microwave on medium heat for 20-30 second increments. Between each increment, remove the chocolate from the microwave and stir, repeat this until the chocolate is completely melted.

• It is important to make sure that your strawberries are completely dry and free of any water or excess moisture. If there are any water droplets on the berries it will cause the chocolate to seize up.

• Place your chocolate in a deep bowl or small cup to use when dipping your chocolate. Hold your berry by the stem and dip one side of the strawberry, followed by the other.

• Place your freshly dipped strawberry on wax paper to set up.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

with a fresh strawberry buttercream

Makes: 1 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

1/4 c hot water 

1/4 c cocoa powder 

1/2 tsp instant coffee 

1 c flour 

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 c butter, cut into cubes

1 c sugar 

2 eggs, at room temperature 

2 tsp vanilla 

1/2 c sour cream 

For the Frosting

1 c butter, at room temperature

3 c icing sugar 

1/2 c strawberry puree*

For the Chocolate Covered Strawberries

12 -15 Strawberries 

1 c semi sweet chocolate chips, melted

Directions

For the Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with liners. In a small bowl, whisk together hot water, cocoa powder and instant coffee. In another medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

In a small sauce pan, over medium heat combine the butter and sugar. Stir occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted. Remove from heat and pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. On medium, beat butter & sugar mixture until it begins to thicken and pales in colour (approx. 4-5 mins). You want to ensure the mixture has cooled slightly before adding your eggs. Add eggs one at a time, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add in vanilla and cocoa mixture. Mix until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour, followed by the sour cream, ending with the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated.

Divide batter evenly into prepared cupcake liners. Fill liners 1/2-2/3rds of the way full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Frosting

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, on medium speed beat the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in icing sugar until light and fluffy. Finally, beat in strawberry puree until just combined.

*To make the strawberry puree, blend fresh strawberries using either an immersion blender or regular blender until smooth. 

For the Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Dip strawberries in melted chocolate and let set on parchment paper

Assemble the cupcakes

Frost cupcakes as desired. Top with chocolate covered strawberry before serving. Assembled cupcakes keep for up to 3 days in the fridge but are best served fresh.

Ferrero Rocher Cake with Nutella Frosting

A rich moist chocolate cake with a Ferrero Rocher crunch filling and frosted in a decadent smooth Nutella buttercream frosting!

Chocolate and hazelnut is one of the best flavour combinations in my opinion. I actually really love hazelnuts (even without chocolate). Give me some hazelnut gelato and I am one happy camper. Add a scope of chocolate to that and I will think I've died and done to heaven.
I grew up eating Nutella. Nutella on toast, Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches, and my personal favourite Nutella cookies. 

This cake is for all you Nutella lovers out there. Or my chocolate and hazelnut fans🙋 (Same thing right?) Ever since the holidays I have been enjoying a single Ferro Roche after dinner. It has become a nightly ritual. I wanted to capture a Ferrero Rocher in cake form. The moist chocolate cake is filled with layers of vanilla buttercream and Ferrero Rocher bits. The Ferrero Rocher bits add a wonderful texture to the cake filling. The whole cake is iced in a delicious, smooth and decadent Nutella frosting.

Ferrero Rocher Cake 

Ingredients

For the Cake

2 c flour 

2 c sugar 

3/4 c cocoa powder 

2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp salt 

1 c milk 

2 eggs 

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 c hot coffee  

For the Filling

1 c butter, at room temperature 

3 c icing sugar 

1 tsp vanilla 

1 tbsp heavy cream

1/2 c Ferrero Rocherchocolates, chopped 

For the Nutella Frosting

1 c butter, at room temperature 

3 c icing sugar 

1/2 c - 3/4 c Nutella 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease & flour two eight inch cake pans, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed until just combined. Carefully, add the hot coffee to the batter and mix until combined. 

Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans. Bake  for 30 - 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

To make the filling, in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in the icing sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and heavy cream. Stir in the Ferrero Rocher Chocolates. 

To make the Nutella Frosting, in in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in the Nutella until just combined.

Assembling the Cake -  If desired, torte each cake layer, so you have a total of 4 cake layers. Use a dab of frosting to adhere the bottom cake layer to your cake board. Top cake layer with Ferrero Rocher filling, place cake layer on top. Repeat with additional cake layers, ending with your final cake layer. Place filled cake in fridge for 20-30 minutes to set up before crumb coating. 

Coat cake in a thin layer of Nutella frosting to create a crumb coating. Place coated cake in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to allow the crumb coat to set up. 

Frost cake as desired. I used a Patterned Side Scrapper to achieve the design on the cake. I topped the cake with extra Ferrero RocherChocolates and extra frosting, using a Wilton 1M tip.