Valentine's Day Dessert Ideas - Quick to Make Sweet and Fruity Delights

A perfect way to celebrate any special occasion is a quick and easy to prepare fruity dessert that can provide plenty of contrast in flavor and texture. The following light, airy and extremely sweet delights are sure to give you a wonderful conclusion to a heavy meal.

Raspberry Cornstarch Pudding

Ingredients

    4 tablespoons cornstarch
    1 3/2 cups milk
    ¼ cup raspberry puree (sieved)
    2 tablespoons superfine sugar
    1 tablespoon Framboise or Grenadine (optional)
    2/3 cup plain yogurt
    Red food coloring (optional)

Directions

Put cornstarch in a saucepan or mini Dutch oven. Add a little of the cold milk and mix to a thin smooth paste. Pour in remaining milk and sugar, mixing well. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer for 1 minute until thick. Stir in Framboise or Grenadine then transfer mixture into a bowl to cool for 5 minutes. After the set time, gradually beat mixture in yogurt along with the coloring. Pour cornstarch pudding into wet molds. Sprinkle tops with sugar to prevent a skin from forming. Cover and chill for 4 hours or until set. Unmold and decorate with fruit and chop nuts.

Easy Lemon Mousse Ring

Ingredients

    1 packet lemon-flavored gelatin
    2 eggs
    Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
    2 tablespoons lemon juice
    2 tablespoons super fine sugar
    2/3 cup whipping cream

Directions

Put gelatin powder in liquid measure. Make up to 1 ¾ cups with boiling water and stir until melted. Alternatively, melt gelatin with water in the mini Dutch oven over a low heat. Cover and chill until just beginning to thicken. The consistency should be like that of unbeaten egg whites. Separate eggs. Beat egg yolks into settling gelatin with lemon zest and juice, use a balloon whisk.

Whip cream separately until thick. Using a large metal spoon dipped in warm water, fold cream and beaten egg whites alternately into lemon gelatin mixture until smooth and well-combined. Spoon mixture into wet ring mold, cover and chill for 4-6 hours. Unmold mousse onto serving plate and decorate with candied peel, ginger or angelica.

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

    4 squares (4 ounces) dark chocolate
    1 tablespoon butter
    3 eggs, at room temperature
    4 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
    Dash of lemon juice
    2/3 cup whipping cream

Directions

Chop chocolate and put into bowl set over saucepan of gently simmering water. Add butter and stir until melted. Separate eggs into two bowls and add half the sugar to egg yolks. Beat until thick and creamy. Gradually beat into melted chocolate. Remove bowl from saucepan. Whip egg whites until stiff. Gradually whisk in remaining sugar and continue whisking until mixture is thick, glossy and stands in firm peaks. Using a large metal spoon, fold egg whites gently into chocolate mixture. Whip egg and sugar cream until thick then gradually fold into chocolate mixture. When mixture is smooth and evenly combined, transfer it to 4 individual serving dishes. Chill for 2 to 3 hours or until set.

How to Keep Your Chocolate Cookies Soft and Chewy

Have you ever ended up with hard chocolate chip cookies? You had to break off bites instead of sinking your teeth into them because they were too hard. Some cookies are meant to be crispy, even chocolate chip cookies, but there is a difference between crispy and hard. If you're going for soft cookies, use these tips to get the texture you want.

Use More Brown Sugar

Most, if not all, chocolate chip cookie recipes call for brown sugar. One way to make them more chewy is to increase the amount of brown sugar. Molasses makes the brown sugar brown, and it also makes cookies chewier. If your cookies end up too flat, consider reducing the amount of butter next time. This tends to happen when you increase the brown sugar.

Don't Beat the Dough

When you mix the sugar and butter together, you can beat it or mix it more vigorously. It should be creamed and fluffy. Once you add the eggs, it becomes really easy to add too much air to the dough. Too much air will make the cookies cakey. They won't be soft. Instead, they will just crumble when you bit into them. The best way to keep from over-mixing is to use a wooden spoon and mix it by hand. It's pretty easy to mix, anyway.

Keep the Pan Cool

When you use the cookie sheet, make sure it is completely cool. If you already used a sheet for a batch, let it cool completely before putting more dough on it. You will end up with crunchy, flat edges and uneven cooking. Also, don't forget to let the oven preheat completely before popping any cookies into it.

Watch the Baking

DO NOT over-bake the cookies. Stick to the time it says in the recipe. The cookies will be don't when they look set and are lightly golden brown around the edges. The center of the top should not be very browned. If your cookies are dark brown, they will end up being very hard. This is usually the biggest culprit of hard cookies. They won't look burnt because they won't be black, but they practically are burnt because you overcooked them. They probably won't taste as good either.

Now that you know how to keep your cookies from tasting hard and bad, whip up a batch. Use these techniques and you'll never make a bad batch of chocolate chip cookies again!