Admittedly, I've never been a big fan of the holiday, even when I had a steady boyfriend. I'm very anti the corporate marketing of a day that celebrates the death of a person who died fighting for orphans (or something like that). Especially when the celebration comes in the form of lingerie and sweets. So, instead of sitting at home moping, I baked! It was great and I got to share some goodies with my friends later on that night.
First, I made some maple bacon pecan tartlets. These are a gift for a friend's birthday party. I hope they go over well! I was inspired by these recipes here and here.
But, the bacon was my idea.
The dough is super flaky, and the salty bacon gives such a yummy contrast with the sweet corn syrup, maple syrup and the brown sugar. To make these, I adjusted the recipe and simply added ~ 1/4 cup maple syrup and five crumbled strips of bacon to the filling.
Then, with the leftover dough, I made home made pop tarts filled with quince and rose hip jellies, which made for a not-too-sweet filling. The rose hip jelly bled out of the tart in such a way that I felt it gave appropriate props to St. Valentine.
These are super easy to make. Just follow the same dough recipe above, roll out into small squares or rounds, smear the inside with jelly or jam, fold, press the edges with a fork and wash with milk using a pastry brush. These take about 20 minutes to bake in a 350 degree oven.
Finally, I was in the store the other day and I came across these little guys:
At first I was just attracted to the name brand, Bimbo. I kept thinking that a great tagline would be: "For discriminating men." But, then I opened up the package and discovered these sugar-encrusted, crunchy pastries:
They are delicious! I'd love to learn how to make them.
All in all, a sweet Valentine's Day. And no orphans were harmed by my actions...as far as I know.
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