We've been making Valentine's to put into the special Valentine bags hanging on each of the kids chairs in the classroom.
It's a Valentine's Day Progressive Dinner and I've got dessert! If you have just arrived from enjoying some yummy Creamy Chicken Florentine over at Desiree Eaglin's then welcome.
Ingredients:
Cheesecake Base
Cheesecake Filling
Additional ingredients
Note: You will need either mini individual springform pans or a mini cheesecake pan for this recipe. If you don't have either of these, they can be made in cupcake liners, I'm just not sure how well the wrapping peels off once cooked.
Turn the oven onto 325F. Lightly grease the pans with the 1 tablespoon of butter, making sure to brush up the sides of the pan.
Break the graham crackers into smaller pieces and mix in a food processor until you see fine crumbs. Add in the sugar and mix just for a few seconds. Add the softened butter in small sections into the food processor too and mix until you can see that everything is starting to stick together a little.
Press the mixture into the base of the pans creating a very shallow well in the center and allowing just a little to edge up the sides.
Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Turn the oven down to 300F.
Chocolate hearts: melt chocolate in the microwave, cool just a little and pour into a piping bag with a small round tip (I used a Wilton no.2 round tip) on the end. Lay down a sheet of parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and carefully pipe chocolate hearts onto the paper, filling each with a lace pattern. Pop into the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.
Cream Cheese Filling: Break up the cream cheese and blend in a bowl until smooth (by having it at room temperature it will be easier to mix than if it came directly out of the refrigerator). Add in the sugar and blend again for just a few seconds. Add the vanilla, salt and cream and mix until combined. Pour in the eggs and blend on low speed.
Pour the cheesecake filling over the graham cracker base until about 3/4 of the pan is full. Pop back into the oven and bake for between 45-50 minutes. Check them to make sure that the outside is set, you will see that it has pulled away from the pan a little and will be the slightly browned. The inside will still be a little wobbly and may look like it's risen over the pan, but it's okay, once you remove it from the oven it will settle and set.
Leave on the counter until cool. Once cool, gently either push the base of the cheesecake pan up (or open the springform pan). Using a sharp knife gently remove the base. Pop onto some parchment paper and into a container and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.
Once ready to serve, remove from the refrigerator, top with raspberries, sift confectioners sugar over the top, and add a chocolate heart.
Makes 4 mini cheesecakes - will make more though if you are using cupcake liners which are smaller.
Now, head on over to This Talk Aint' Cheap for some delicious White Chocolate Creme Brulee.
Follow these recipes for a delicious Valentine's Day dinner for the one you love.
Sparkling Pomegranate Jubilee: Someday I'll Learn
Strawberry Bruschetta: The Wonder Years
Bruschetta Hearts: The Jolly Tomato
Sweetheart Salad: Baby Baby Lemon
Steakhouse Steaks for Two: The Gonzo Gourmet
Creamy Chicken Florentine: Sarcastic, Funny, and Brutally Honest
Baked Mini Cheesecakes: from me, see above.
White Chocolate Creme Brulee: This Talk Ain't Cheap
For the instructions on how to make this fun after school treat for your kids this Valentine's Day head on over to Kidzui. I have a great tip for labeling glasses too so kids don't forget which one is theirs.
Are you already crafting for Valentine's Day? We are. Today I'm sharing how to make this simple Valentine's Day necklace over at Multiples and More.
As seen on:
Looking for a fun Valentine's Day game to play with your loved one? I'm over at Zui.com showing you how to make this fun chalkboard tic-tac-toe game.
In honor of Smart & Final's 140th Birthday I threw together a little celebration. I'm honored to be one of the #sfsmarties and love Smart & Final, particularly for when I'm hosting parties. You can view some of the items we purchased for this party table on ThisMoment.
On The Party Table:
Red Velvet Cake - filled with freshly whipped cream and topped with sifted powdered sugar
Twizzlers
Milk (First Street) - Red Straws (First Street) and Party Cups
Yogurt covered raisins
Starlight Peppermints (First Street)
Red Velvet Cookies
Apple and Cheese Danish Bites
Strawberries
Kettle Corn
TIPS:
To decorate I hung a rope above the table and lay folded napkins over the top to form a banner and placed a matching table cloth on the table. These were from the twins 3rd birthday party.
Glass hurricane candle holders are fabulous for holding party snacks such as fruit and kettle corn.
Small trays can be turned into an instant cake stand by placing it on top of a candlestick holder.
Silicone baking cups are perfect for holding small snacks such as yogurt covered raisins.
When using a boxed cake mix, use apple sauce in place of oil - This tip is from Martha Stewart.
Disclosure: This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #cbias #SmartFinal140th
Instead of celebrating Valentine's Day, the twins preschool are celebrating Friendship Day.
Remember the Friendship Bracelets we made for the girls in the class. Well we made these for the boys.
These are very simple to make. I found the train sand molds at Target. Using the kids crayons I sketched out the picture, scanned it into the computer, added the text, then printed out enough copies for the boys in the class. Then using a couple of Elmer's glue spots, I attached the train to the picture.
This post linked to:
I'm taking the kids to see Gnomeo and Juliet for Valentine's Day (with thanks to Collective Bias). So when they asked me to come up with a giant Valentine's Day card using an Elmer's Tri-Fold Display Board I knew immediately what I wanted to do.
GNOMES!
And inside:
Along the sides I created pockets and popped in the free printables available on the Gnomeo and Juliet website. I put pretend tickets in an envelope for the gnome to hold as their gift.
The kids will be so excited to find out that they are seeing the movie next week.
Disclosure: I was compensated for this project as a member of the #couchcritics and #gluenglitter communities on Collective Bias.
As you know, we love popsicles. Especially home-made yogurt ones.
The kids are going to love these ones for Valentine's Day.
Ingredients:
Slice a section (approx 5mm thick) of strawberry off with a sharp knife. Using a very small heart shaped cutter (similar to this) cut a heart out of the slice. Place the heart upside down in a small food storage container, something similar to baby food size (about 4oz).
Put 2 tablespoons of vanilla yogurt over the top of the strawberry. Place into the freezer for about 15 minutes.
In a blender combine 6 strawberries with 4 tablespoons of vanilla yogurt. Pour this over the top of the plain vanilla yogurt in each container. Gently place a popsicle stick in the center. Freeze again until set.
(makes approximately 6)
The twins and I made these beaded bracelets for the girls in their preschool class for their upcoming Friendship Tea on Valentine's Day.
Want to make some too? Head on over to Multiples and More (where I'm the new monthly craft contributor) for the detailed tutorial.
Now to start crafting a little something for the boys in the class too.
This post linked to:
www.flickr.com
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