Loveable food!

I love Valentine's day! Even when I was a kid it was one of my favorite holidays. I can remember how great it was coming home from school and finding my bed covered in conversation hearts, chocolates and a nice card from my dad. Even when I was older and single I enjoyed valentines day. Any holiday dedicated to the concept of love is good by me!
The first year Ryan and I were together for Valentines day, he took me out to a nice Italian restaurant where we fought the crowds, paid too much and found it hard to enjoy each others company. The following year we started a tradition and now every year Ryan makes me an amazing homemade dinner of Chicken Marsala. It is always sooo delicious and with a few candles and a bottle of wine we have quite an intimate stress free Valentine's meal together! This year I decided to add to the tradition by offering to making a delicious dessert. I knew I wanted something rich and chocolate-y and I found the recipe below which sounded perfect.


Espresso Chocolate Molten Cakes
- Two 6 oz ramekins
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter plus more for the ramekins
- 1 tbsp flour, plus more for dusting the ramekins
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips (use dark chocolate chips for an antioxidant boost)
- 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder
Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Butter the ramekins and dust with flour. Place the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high in 20 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg, egg yolk and sugar in a medium bowl until thick and lighter in color, about a minute. Add the melted chocolate mixture, flour and espresso and beat until fully incorporated and smooth. Divide the batter between the prepared ramekins. Bake until edges are set and center still jiggles slightly, 8-10 minutes. Let stand for 15 seconds. Run a knife around the edge, then invert each cake onto a plate.
I am going to serve them with a really good vanilla ice cream and maybe a drizzle of caramel.

Also, I found this cool romantic Valentine's meal planner on Epicurious today. You just answer a few questions and it gives you menu suggestions. So if you want to impress someone you love, give it a try!

Happy Valentine's day and Happy Eating!