Valentine's Day is just not a big thing in my household. For the many, many years my husband and I have been together, we have largely kept February 14th unromantic and uneventful.
This year I decided to change things up a bit; perhaps because we have a special wedding anniversary coming up or perhaps because I am finally getting a bit mushy in my older years. Whatever the reason, Tuesday night's dinner was overwhelmingly heart inspired.
The star of our main meal was to be a pie, filled with the meaty leftovers from the previous night. Given my husband's love of homemade pastry (and the fabulous flavour of our leftovers!), I knew this would be an enormous hit. It was as I was laying the pastry that I got the idea to mould it into a heart shape, using a heart shaped biscuit cutter wedged into the top of the pie and two ceramic spoons at the base. The result was wonky but effective.
Dessert was somewhat more spectacular. As I was trawling for an appropriately romantic dessert recipe, I was thrilled to discover these rings which I knew would be easily crafted into hearts. I was amused as my youngest, also known as our resident dough thief, ate a piece of the dough and exclaimed, "Mum, this is a bit heavy on the honey."
"It's OK", I told him. "It's not to make bread, it's for honey biscuits."
"Yes, but I am just letting you know that the honey flavour is very strong."
Thanks mate, got it.
The creation of the first tray load of biscuit hearts was successful, if a bit sticky. Thinking I was improving the process, I rolled the second half in a dash of flour to reduce the stickiness, which worked beautifully, but unfortunately meant that the sesame seeds did not have a chance of adhering. Live and learn!
Thankfully both versions (seed and no seed) were delicious x
Dessert was somewhat more spectacular. As I was trawling for an appropriately romantic dessert recipe, I was thrilled to discover these rings which I knew would be easily crafted into hearts. I was amused as my youngest, also known as our resident dough thief, ate a piece of the dough and exclaimed, "Mum, this is a bit heavy on the honey."
"It's OK", I told him. "It's not to make bread, it's for honey biscuits."
"Yes, but I am just letting you know that the honey flavour is very strong."
Thanks mate, got it.
The creation of the first tray load of biscuit hearts was successful, if a bit sticky. Thinking I was improving the process, I rolled the second half in a dash of flour to reduce the stickiness, which worked beautifully, but unfortunately meant that the sesame seeds did not have a chance of adhering. Live and learn!
Thankfully both versions (seed and no seed) were delicious x
 |
| My slightly weird looking heart pie |
I have been following your blog for a number of years with great enjoyment. And am always impatiently waiting for your next post. Every post reawakens my enthusiasm for Stephanie's Cook's Companion and I find myself 'looking up' the recipes you feature. Am now feeling compelled to bake these honey and sesame rings/hearts, a recipe I would probably have overlooked. You illuminate the Cook's Companion through your stories and cooking, and I just wanted to thank you for the joy and brightness you bring.
ReplyDeleteWhat an absolutely beautiful comment! This has just made my day. Thank you so very much for being a part of this crazy, fun journey. Please do let me know if you make this recipe, I would love to hear what you think xxx
ReplyDelete