Valentine Day Recipes

Grandma's Valentine Day Recipes Make Perfect Party Treats

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One pound of blanched sweet almonds (four ounces of them may be bitter), two pounds of sugar, one pint of the yolks of eggs, half a pint of whole eggs, one pound of flour, and the whites of twelve eggs beat to a firm froth.

Pound the almonds with the sugar in a mortar, and sift them through a wire sieve, or grind them in a mill, and mix them with the sugar in the mortar. First mix the whole eggs well with the almonds and sugar, then add the yolks by degrees, stirring the whole until quite light; then mix in the whites, and afterwards the flour, lightly; prepare some molds as for Savoy cakes; but some only butter them. Fill the molds three parts full and bake them in a moderate oven.

For almond hearts, butter some tins in the shape of a heart, but without bottoms; cover a baking plate with paper; place the tins on it, and fill them nearly three parts full with the mixture; dust a little sugar on the top, and bake them in a moderate oven.

Puits d'Amour Or Puff Paste Rings

The title of this vintage puits d'amour recipe translates into English as "wells of love." This Valentine Day recipe makes the perfect dessert for Valentine's Day!

Ingredients: Puff-paste (1/2 lb of paste is sufficient for 2 dishes of pastry), the white of an egg, sifted loaf sugar.

Mode: Make some good puff-paste by recipe; roll it out to the thickness of about 1/4 inch, and, with a round fluted paste-cutter, stamp out as many pieces as may be required; then work the paste up again, and roll it out to the same thickness, and with a smaller cutter, stamp out sufficient pieces to correspond with the larger ones. Again stamp out the center of these smaller rings; brush over the others with the white of an egg, place a small ring on the top of every large circular piece of paste, egg over the tops, and bake from 15 to 20 minutes. Sift over sugar, put them back in the oven to color them; then fill the rings with preserve of any bright color. Dish them high on a napkin, and serve.

So many pretty dishes of pastry may be made by stamping puff-paste out with fancy cutters, and filling the pieces, when baked, with jelly or preserve, that our space will not allow us to give a separate recipe for each of them; but, as they are all made from one paste, and only the shape and garnishing varied, perhaps it is not necessary, and by exercising a little ingenuity, variety may always be obtained. Half-moons, leaves, diamonds, stars, shamrocks, rings, etc., are the most appropriate shapes for fancy pastry. This Valentine day recipe is seasonable at any time.

Almond Flowers

Ingredients: Puff-paste; to every 1/2 lb of paste allow 3 oz of almonds, sifted sugar, the white of an egg.

Mode: Roll the paste out to the thickness of 1/4 inch, and, with a round fluted cutter, stamp out as many pieces as may be required. Work the paste up again, roll it out, and, with a smaller cutter, stamp out some pieces the size of a shilling. Brush the larger pieces over with the white of an egg, and place one of the smaller pieces on each. Blanch and cut the almonds into strips lengthways; press them slanting into the paste closely round the rings; and when they are all completed, sift over some pounded sugar, and bake for about 1/4 hour or 20 minutes.

Garnish between the almonds with strips of apple jelly, and place in the center of the ring a small quantity of strawberry jam; pile them high on the dish, and serve.

Pastry Sandwiches With Whipped Cream

This easy Valentine Day recipe may be used to make fancy pastry treats for any special occasion.

Ingredients: Puff-paste (1/2 lb of paste will make 2 dishes of sandwiches), jam of any kind, the white of an egg, sifted sugar.

Mode: Roll the paste out thin; put half of it on a baking sheet or tin, and spread equally over it apricot, greengage, or any preserve that may be preferred. Lay over this preserve another thin paste; press the edges together all round; and mark the paste in lines with a knife on the surface, to show where to cut it when baked.

Bake from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour; and, a short time before being done, take the pastry out of the oven, brush it over with the white of an egg, sift over pounded sugar, and put it back in the oven to color.

When cold, cut it into strips; pile these on a dish pyramidically, and serve. These strips, cut about 2 inches long, piled in circular rows, and a plateful of flavored whipped cream poured in the middle, make a very pretty dish. Seasonable at any time.

Note: It should be borne in mind that, for all dishes of small pastry, such as the preceding, trimmings of puff-pasty, left from larger tarts, answer as well as making the paste expressly.