Heart Shaped Raspberry Rolls

So, coming up is the dreaded Valentines Day. Yes, I said dreaded. I have never been a fan, even when my husband and I were dating. I believe Valentines Day should be every day, and it can make young people act funny just to feel like they fit in on this day. Since being married, I have to say I've softened quite a bit, but still don't care about all the mushy stuff. 
However, now that I am cooking more, I wanted to surprise him and do something special. So when ideas started coming out on Pinterest and Facebook, I looked through them and realized most of them required food coloring or some type of heart-shaped cookie cutter. Living in a small apartment, I barely have room for Christmas cookie cutters, never mind heart-shaped ones that I will probably only use 1 time ever. I may also just be so stubborn that I refuse to buy something for this holiday. So I kept looking until I found this recipe that did not require anything special! In fact, almost every single ingredient is already in my kitchen. It was a bit difficult to follow, but I had a lot of fun doing it, so this blog will include lots of pictures! 

The recipe calls for use of a stand mixer and the dough attachment. Of course this is something I do not have, not only because of the price tag, but the lack of room to keep it really anywhere. But my handy little sunbeam hand mixer did come with the dough hook set as do most hand mixers now-a-days. So I used the dough hook, and attempted to mix the dough so that it made one lump (or as close to that as I could).

I then kneaded it together only enough to make it 1 lump and let it rest for 10 minutes. 

As I let the dough rest, I put together the raspberries (I used 12 oz. instead of the 10 oz. it calls for), sugar, cornstarch and orange zest (orange peel).

I then rolled out the dough and compared it to a 9x13 pan to get the 9x15 size the recipe calls for. I did make it a bit bigger than called for because the dough was still quite thick and, honestly, who cares if you make more than it calls for!

The berries did not spread out very evenly, but I just made sure it was approximate. I kept it away from the edges as the picture on the website shows that the ends curl inward a bit which I tried to mirror (whether or not it worked, you can decide for yourself haha!).

Roll up each edge halfway until they meet in the middle. Note: they did not stick together when I pressed them together lightly, but it's alright. As long as they end up close in the pan, they will cook and rise to end up together. 

I cut the ends and then cut the rest into 10 pieces (I could mark the dough to make sure they were all even!

Then I took each piece, laid it flat, and formed that heart shape with my hands! If you would like to put something down between the counter and rolls, try a small piece of parchment paper. 

I used two pans, partially because I refused to waste the ends that would make a beautiful cannoli-shaped pastry. 

When the pastries were almost done, I heated up some left-over chocolate chip morsels from my christmas baking to make a chocolate drizzle and dipping sauce. 

The final product looked a bit messy and required a spatula to remove it from the pan without all the filling falling out. I chocolate all the pastries right in the pan so that I could use up the chocolate before it hardened and make the mess in the pan.

These were very cute, delicious desserts! The only feedback I had from Derek was that the raspberries were a bit sour, so he might prefer strawberries, and I agree! With the raspberries, you also get lots of seeds to crunch. So I think it's really a matter of preference. I do believe raspberries go better with chocolate, but you also don't have to use the chocolate! 

Because it is just the two of us, I was a bit worried about re-heating these days later. I have to say, I was just as impressed as when they were fresh! Heating them for 30 seconds warms and softens the dough and heats the berries. It also melts the chocolate on top to make it glisten! So if you enjoy these, you can do so for several days.

I hope this is an idea if you want to do something special for your special someone, but don't have the tools or room to do so. 

Heart Shaped Raspberry Rolls

Dough

1 cup lukewarm whole milk

1/3 cup lukewarm water

1 package instant yeast

3 Tbsp sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

1 10-oz (or more) package frozen raspberries

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp fresh orange zest

Icing

1/3 cup hazelnut spread or any chocolate morsels

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. For dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add all the dough ingredients and stir until combined. Turn mixer on medium speed and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth. Remove dough to a floured work surface, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.

3. For the filling: In a medium bowl, toss frozen raspberries with sugar, cornstarch and orange zest.

4. After dough has rested, use a floured rolling pin to roll it out into a 9 by 15-inch rectangle. Spread evenly with raspberry mixture. Starting on the long side, tightly roll dough up, stopping at center. Roll the other side up, stopping when two sides meet at the middle. Gently press together.

5. Place in greased pie pan or 9x13 inch baking pan, with points towards the center. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes. 

6. For the icing: While rolls cool, place chocolate hazelnut spread into a zip top bag and cut a small hole in one corner. Drizzle spread over rolls just before serving. 

Philly Cheesesteak Cups

This recipe has gone around the internet quite a bit, and is something that Derek and I both like, so I thought I'd try it out! I had lots of websites to choose from, but here's where I got my recipe. And, yes, I know I'm just adding to that pile of websites, but that's what blogs are for, right? You can pick and choose! No hard feelings if you pick another website, either. I do the same thing all the time.

This is a rather easy recipe to put together and doesn't require a ton of prep.

The recipe said to slice the meat thin, but how thin is thin? I thought mine would have been thin and small enough, but when I was ready to combine the meat with the veggies, I realized these pieces might not fit nicely in the cups. So I cut them up in the pan after they were cooked. 

I also added some left-over chicken!

One mistake I made in prepping for this meal was forgetting the heavy cream. I make about 4 meals a year that require heavy cream so rarely do I have some in the fridge, and just passed over it for my grocery list. So I quickly googled substitutions and found a helpful substitution with things I already have. I am big about prepping as much before I need it as possible. So I got the heavy cream substitution ready while the meat and veggies were cooking, but discovered something I didn't read about online for this substitution.

I cut the pastry to approximately 3x3 squares and they fit perfectly in my muffin tin. I had quite a few extra squares left over, so I decided to add a bit of crust onto a few just for fun.

These were delicious cups that were also quite filling! 

*Update: Because it is just the two of us, we had leftovers for the next few nights. I will say I am not a big fan of deflated pastry puff. So this meal might be best when you will have guests and can show off your creativity, and not have leftovers!

I still had 3 squares left over, so I decided to get creative and made a small and easy dessert. I just took some candy and stuffed it in the squares and baked it for about 10 minutes, just enough to melt the chocolate and make the pastry golden. It was a delicious dessert!

I hope you can enjoy these Philly Cheesesteak cups just as much as we did! And treat yourself to a delicious dessert, too!

Philly Cheesecake Cups

• 1 lb rib eye steak, thinly sliced (if you want to save a little money, use flank steak EXTREMELY thinly sliced, or use ground beef)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ medium onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 cup mushroom, chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• ⅓ cup milk
• 1 package puff pastry, thawed
• ½ cup provolone cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Preheat skillet and oil. Add chopped onion and peppers and sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté for another 5 minutes. Set aside.

3. Cook beef in the same skillet until no longer pink. Add the veggie mixture back to the pan.

4. Add seasonings, cream and milk. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened. Remove from heat.

5. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Cut pastry to 3-4 inch squares and place each one in muffin cup. Add about 1/4 cup cheesesteak mix to each cup. 

6. Bake for about 10 minutes. Place a small bunch of provolone cheese on each cheesesteak cup and continue to bake for another 3 minutes or so.