4 perfect sweets to celebrate valentine’s day!

Valentine's Day is synonymous with love and love is synonymous with hearts! Give a sweet touch to this special day and delight yourself with your loved one with these 4 sweet recipes we have for you, using In&Out Cooking products that are full of love!

Carrot cake with lemon icing

A carrot cake with a twist, asks for a different shape! Both the Le Creuset springform and the Lékué silicone mould (both with a heart shape), give your cake a unique and special design. Moreover, allow you to unmold it effortlessly due to their smooth non-stick surfaces.

Icing:

• 100g butter, softened
• 200g full-fat cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 200g icing sugar, sifted
• Chopped pistachios, dried fruit or edible flowers for decorating

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C
2. Combine the olive oil, sugar, eggs, orange zest and vanilla extract together in a bowl.
3. Add the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, salt and mix.
4. Join the chopped nuts, sultanas and grated carrot.
5. Pour the mixture into the springform and bake in for 50-55 minutes or until the centre is firm and a skewer comes out clean.
6. Leave the cake resting for 10-15 minutes before removing the springform.
7. Transfer the cake from the base onto a wire rack to cool.

For the icing:

1. Blend the softened butter and cream cheese in a bowl until smooth and creamy using a hand-held or stand electric mixer.
2. Join the lemon zest and juice and mix.
3. Add the icing sugar gradually and continue to beat until the icing is light and airy.
4. Cover the whole cake with the mixture. Use a palette knife to smooth over to ensure the heart shape is defined.
5. Decorate with chopped pistachios, dried fruit or edible flowers.

Strawberry mousse

For a mousse full of romanticism, nothing better than the Lékué silicone mold with 8 hearts, light, durable, non-stick. Allows an easy unmold, thanks to its silicone flexibility.

Method:

1. Crush the strawberries to a pulp and reserve.
2. Whip the cream and reserve in the fridge.
3. Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water. Dry the sheets when they are soft and reserve.
4. Put the sugar in a pan and cover with water. Heat until boiling point is reached.
5. Meanwhile beat the whites until stiff peaks form.
6. When the syrup reaches 120ºC, add the gelatine sheets then slowly fold this mixture into the whites and continue to beat.
7. Mix the strawberries with the whipped cream and add this mixture to the beaten egg whites.
8. Blend gently with a spatula.
9. Pour the batter into the mould and freeze.
10. Once frozen, turn out carefully and allow it to reach room temperature before serving.

Friands with Raspberry

These almond muffins, very popular in Australia, look lovely in the shape of a heart. To do so, just use the Le Creuset 6 heart tray. Thanks to its smooth and non-stick surface, there is no need to grease, making the unmolding much easier.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Sift the icing sugar and flour into a bowl, then join the ground almonds and the lemon zest.
3. Whisk the egg whites until they form peaks and add to the almond mixture along with the vanilla extract and the melted butter. Combine the ingredients, then lightly stir in 2/3 of the raspberries.
4. Divide the mixture equally between the 6 cups and top with the remaining raspberries.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the centre springs back when touched.
6. Allow the friands to firm up in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. To serve, sprinkle with icing sugar.

Gingerbread Cookies

Would you like to give your gingerbread cookies a loving touch to offer your soulmate? The Lékué heart shape mould allows you to cut 12 cookies at once, of different sizes, without wasting dough, since there is no space between the shapes.

Ingredients:

• 75g butter
• 45g brown sugar
• 70g maple syrup
• 170g pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC.
2. Place the softened butter in a bowl, add the sugar and beat until creamy.
3. Add the syrup, flour, ginger and baking powder and mix with your hands until the dough has an even consistency.
4. Divide the dough into two parts, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
5. Roll out the dough on a mat using a rolling pin, giving it a thickness of 4mm. Cut the cookies with the cookie cutter with heart forms. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
6. Bake the cookies for approximately 10-12 minutes and allow them to cool in a wire rack.

For the final touch, if you wish, let your imagination run wild and decorate your cookies with melted chocolate (in a bain-marie) or icing *, using the Lékué Decopen pen.

* To make the icing, beat one egg white until firm and gently add 200g powdered sugar. Add a few drops of lemon and mix until doubled in volume. If desired, add food coloring.

Are you missing a tool to bring these recipes to life? Take a look at the offer of silicone spatulas, whisk, mixing bowls, graters, pastry mat with rolling pin and much more, available at In&Out Cooking.

The perfect match!