Valentine's Day: Part One

This is the second Valentine's Day of my life that I've been in a relationship, and the first one on my home turf. Last year we spent the 14th at my girlfriend's place, and since we don't get to see each other very often, we also exchanged Christmas gifts. This year we got to spend Christmas together (!!!) and so this Valentine's Day is reserved exclusively for pink things covered in hearts.

Okay I'm trying a little harder than that. So I baked red velvet cupcakes in little tea cup cupcake holders. For the cupcakes I used this recipe from Divas Can Cook which is honestly the greatest red velvet recipe ever. Instead of cream cheese icing (because sharing a fridge with three other people doesn't really leave room for cupcakes) I used the frosting recipe from Tasty Kitchen found here.

Now we also got fancy and went to our favourite bakery for macarons. If you want to make macarons at home I like this recipe from Your Home Based Mom, because I keep forgetting to buy new batteries for my kitchen scale (and I know a lot of people don't have one) and this recipe uses cups rather than weights and still turns out just fine every time.

(left to right: lavender caramel, pistachio, espresso, salted caramel, chocolate, oreo)

I also recommend freezing them if you plan to make them in advance, as they freeze very well and they're best at peak freshness, which only really lasts a day or two.  They're definitely still yummy after, but your valentine (or you!) deserves the best.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! I hope you have a great day!