Heart Bonbons with White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream

Since the start of the New Year I've been on a pretty mean health kick. My body needed a break from all the holiday sweets so I've been eating lean and green and sweating it out in the gym nearly every day. Not too shabby, right? But with Valentine's Day around the corner that's kind of gone out the window because I've had a bad case of chocolate brain the last couple of days. I'm not even all that crazy about chocolate, but yesterday I somehow found myself in the candy aisle at Target holding two giant bags of the stuff (Dove Hearts and Hershey Kisses, thank you), completely unable to resist the pretty pink and red foil wrapped beauties. Once I got home I experienced some serious buyer's remorse and sent the majority of them packing off to John's office and safe from my clutches...

Naturally I just had to make something heart shaped and pretty and chocolatey myself. It's been quite awhile since I've broken out my ice cream maker, I kind of missed it. So I thought:

ice cream+chocolate+hearts=  Heart Shaped Chocolate Bon Bons!

I made these over the course of two days: the white chocolate raspberry swirl ice cream and the raspberry sauce were prepared the night before to ensure proper freezing, and I melted the chocolate and assembled the bonbons the following morning. It got a little messy, I'm not going to lie. But what do you expect when dealing with dipping things in melted chocolate? I'm not kidding when I say that this recipe is a true labor of love...the steps definitely require some patience, but that's what makes it all the more fitting as a special Valentine's Day treat for your loved ones.

makes about 18 bon bons
Ingredients
for the raspberry sauce:
1 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. water

for the white chocolate raspberry swirl  ice cream:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
4 oz. white chocolate
1/4 cup raspberry sauce

for the chocolate shell:
12 ounces dark chocolate chips
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. heavy cream

Special Equipment: heart shaped candy molds (or silicone ice cube trays, which is what I used)

Instructions
1. To make the raspberry coulis, bring raspberries, sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sugar has dissolved, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool and transfer to a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth, then pass through a mesh strainer pressing with a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible Discard seeds and set sauce aside for later use.

2. To make the ice cream heat the milk in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until small bubbles begin to appear around the edges of the pan. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt together in a separate bowl until mixture turns thick and pale yellow. Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg yolks, continuing to whisk, then place the entire mixture back into the saucepan. Simmer over medium low heat, stirring constantly until custard thickens and temperature reaches about 170 degrees.

3. Place white chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and pour the hot custard through a mesh strainer over the white chocolate chips. Let stand for a few minutes, then stir until the white chocolate has completely melted. Add vanilla extract and place over an ice bath to chill the custard to room temperature. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill, then freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

4. When the ice cream has frozen transfer it to an airtight container, layering the scoops with spoonfuls of the raspberry sauce and swirling it throughout the ice cream. Fill candy molds or ice cream trays with ice cream, cover and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour.

5. To assemble the bonbons, melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from pan, stir in butter and heavy cream and let sit for about 20 minutes, until chocolate is cool but still melted. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and place in the freezer.

 6. Working quickly, remove one heart shaped mound of ice cream from the mold, (leaving the others in the freezer) and dip it into the melted chocolate, using a spoon or your fingers to quickly coat the ice cream in the chocolate. Transfer to the baking sheet in the freezer. Repeat this process until all the bonbons have been dipped in chocolate, then freeze for at least 30 minutes or until chocolate is firm. If the chocolate begins to harden simply reheat and allow to cool slightly once more before continuing. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

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Heart Shaped Sandwich Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I wanted to feature an unapologetically sweet recipe to celebrate this day of love, and these heart shaped sugar cookies filled with vanilla buttercream fit the bill perfectly. When this month's Martha Stewart Magazine landed in my mailbox my eyes landed on these adorable confections staring back at me from the cover, and I instantly knew I would be setting aside a couple of hours to recreate them.

Now, Martha may be the cookie queen, but I did make a few of my own modifications: first, I substituted the red food coloring that the recipe called for, using natural all natural beet juice instead- I highly recommend finding natural food dye alternatives and beet juice works just as well, if not better, than artificial red dye. Secondly, the cream filling called for a combination of powdered sugar and granulated sugar, mixed with butter and a bit of vanilla extract and milk. I had a funny feeling about adding granulated sugar but went against my better judgment and followed the recipe. It turned out I was right and the buttercream had a gritty texture due to the granulated sugar not dissolving (I knew it, Martha!!!). So I wound up scrapping that and making a second batch omitting the granulated sugar, which resulted in the smooth creamy texture I was looking for. It just goes to show that a recipe is not the end all be all of a dish. Use your own judgement and instincts to tweak a recipe to your tastes.

I hope you'll love this recipe enough to give it a try and share with your loved ones!

adapted from Martha Stewart
makes about 18-24 sandwich cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp coarse salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp beet juice
1/4 cup cocoa powder

For the cream filling:
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk, if needed

Instructions
1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated.
2. Divide dough into 2 pieces. To one piece add beet juice, mixing and kneading to combine, until an even pink shade is reached; return the other piece to mixer and add cocoa powder. Beat on medium speed until cocoa powder is combined with dough (you may need to knead a bit with your hands). Flatten each piece of colored dough into a disk, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to overnight. Bring to room temperature, about 10 minutes, before rolling.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in top and lower thirds. Roll out each disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to just under 1/4 inch thick, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Cut out even numbers of heart shaped cookies and place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cookies cool completely on baking sheets set on wire racks.
5. Meanwhile, make the filling. Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add sugar, beating until thoroughly combined. Beat in vanilla. If filling is too thick to spread, beat in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until spreadable.
6. Spread filling onto bottom side of half the cooled cookies, and sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing gently.

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