Valentines Banquet

When I think valentines day, I think chocolate covered strawberries. That may be a little hard for that many people though. You could make cakes or cookies in the shape of hearts with icing and sprinkles.

Texas sheet cake (made in a jelly roll pan)...it's like a brownie, but flatter & has wonderful frosting.

Then do a basic white cake, but top it with cherry pie filling.

You'll probably need 2 of each of these...& then round it out with some choc-covered strawberries & petite sugar cookies.

For my sister's baby shower I made cheesecake and banana pudding. To make it easy to serve I made them in little six oz plastic (punch) cups (Party City $9.99). I put the cups on trays to stack in the refrigerator and serve.

For the cheesecakes, I use the generic no-bake cheesecake mix from the grocery store. I mixed up the crust and spooned it in to the cups. then I mixed up the filling and put it into large plastic bag and filled the cups up part way.

For the banana puddings, I put vanilla wafers at the bottom. Then mixed up the vanilla pudding, fill the cups part way, then added a coupla of banana slice and finished with a little more pudding.

It took me and a friend an hour to make dessert for 90 people. The individual cups were a great hit and much bettter than trying to serve cake. You could try a chocolate cheesecake too.

PS. Thanks for thinking about those of us that can't have chocolate.

I found this easy chocolate mousse recipe in Feb.'s Real Simple (it says 4 servings):
1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese
2 Tblsp. confectioners sugar
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted.
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for up to two days, tightly covered. You could either fill individual dishes or serve from a big bowl. Garnish with chocolate shavings or whipped cream.

I also fill phyllo cups with store-bought lemon curd (or any pie filling) and garnish with whipped cream or chopped candied ginger. Also great for prepping ahead of time.

Have fun!

Hi, S.. What about red velvet heart shaped cupcakes or a cake? It is inexpansive and festive for Valentine's Day?

Good Morning S.. One of the easiest is Cherry ( or any pie filling ) Cobbler.
Use whatever size pan you want. Fill it with Cherry Pie filling,sprinkle white or yellow ( dry ) cake mix ( can use the jiffy cake mixes also ) over the top ( don't smooth it out)then place several pats of butter/oleo on the top. You want enough butter to melt into & over the cake mix, and the cherry filling to bubble up through it.
Bake @ 350 until brown and bubbly.

Another easy one ( my favorite growing up, the frosting or pudding is on the bottom )
Cake mix of your choice mix as directed 9 x 12 pan
In the bottom of the pan add
1 c brown sugar packed
1 c. Very Hot water
About a 1/4 c of cocoa powder
Stir until sugar and cocoa dissolve
Pour cake batter over the top, bake as suggested on box.

When it's done you can scoop with a large spoon or use spatula, turning it upside down on the plate. The cocoa and sugar makes a pudding as the frosting.
Chocolate Cake mix was and still is my absolute Favorite to use.

Hope you get a lot of yummy idea's. I need some new ones :)
God Bless
K. Nana of 5
Happy Valentines Day

You could get the refrigerated phyllo cups and fill them with any sort of yummy goodness! They have recipes on the box, but you could put any sort of mousse, pudding, cheesecakey thing in that you want, or just google phyllo cup recipes. Plus, I just saw the other day in the baking aisle they know make a smilar thing in chocolate. There are little chocolate cups and you fill them with stuff and then voila!

They may even sell them at Costco?? Don't know, but they are quick and easy and are single servings which is nice for a big crowd.

I second the Texas Sheet Cake idea for the chocolate dessert (except, I'd skip the nuts in the frosting, in case of allergies)! And for non-chocolate, how about Angel Food Cake or a Pound Cake, served either with sliced strawberries (you could use the sweetened frozen kind, defrosted, to help cut the cost) or with cherry pie filling? Or a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake? Or an Apple Sheet Cake might be good: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Sheet-Cake/Detail.aspx

If you're looking for something other than cake, maybe Pots de Creme for the chocolate one (you can put it in cheap paper cups if necessary, although it is quite pretty in clear plastic disposable wine glasses). I really like the Pioneer Woman's recipe for Pots de Creme, especially if you haven't made them before--she has step by step pictures!

And for a non-cake, non-chocolate dessert, how about Lemon Bars or a simple Cherry Cobbler? Or for something a little fancier, a custard, like Panna Cotta would be good. Or single-serving Fruit Tarts (and you can use whatever fruit is available and/or inexpensive).

HTH! Good luck!
--A. H.

You can try chocolate cover strawberries and cherries. Dip both in milk or white chocolate then do the oppest on them when they dry . for the non-chocolate one try strawberries and other fruits dip in yogrut plain .

How about easy banana pudding and chocolate eclaire cake? they are so simple to make and easy to store and transport! When I take these to church, there's never a crumb left! If you'd like the recipes, please email me at ____@____.com one takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, can be made ahead (actually tastes better when made the day before) and is so yummy!

Hi S., I have a really good cheese cake receipe that is super easy and can be made several days a head of time. I take it everywhere and it dosen't hurt for it to sit out at banquets or dinners. I also have a receipe for an easy cheese cake that uses store bought chocolate chip cookie dough for the crust. Let me know if you would like that one. Thanks!

Sopaipilla Cheesecake

2 – 8 oz cans crescent dinner rolls
2 – 8 oz packages cream cheese – softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter – melted
2 tsp vanilla

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
Honey

· Preheat oven to 350
· Butter a 9X13 pan
· Unroll 1 can of crescent rolls – press into the bottom of buttered pan
· Combine cream cheese, sugar & vanilla – mix well
· Spread cream cheese mixture over crescent rolls
· Top cream cheese mixture with the 2nd can of crescent rolls
· Melt butter and pour over top
· Combine 1/2 cup sugar & 3 tsp cinnamon, sprinkle over top of cheese cake
· Bake for 25 – 30 minutes (may need a little longer)
· Cool before cutting
· Drizzle honey on top of cheese cake

How about heading to Hobby Lobby, Michael's or JoAnn's to purchase inexpensive decorative cupcake liners and some pink and red sprinkle sugar? Bake cherry cupcakes, ice with buttercream or cream cheese frosting, and jazz them up with either pink or red decorative sugar. The bakery department of your grocery store will give you large sheet cake boxes for transporting your cupcakes. Okay, now I'm hungry!