With Valentine’s Day coming up, one’s thoughts may drift to chocolate, roses, and berries. But a heart-shaped box of chocolate, a dozen roses, and some chocolate-dipped strawberries are so cliche. We can do much better than that!
So, I took these classics and translated them into a unique, delicious and impressive-looking dessert for you to indulge your loved one(s) with.
It’s actually quite simple, requiring as little as eight ingredients; six for the cookie (all of which are common pantry ingredients), plus fresh berries and store-bought whipped cream. Although, I hope that you’ll instead use my recipe for a rose and raspberry-flavored whipped cream (totally worth the effort!).
I started with flourless fudge cookies – seductively soft and slightly chewy fudge-like morsels that stay moist for days (not that they’ll last that long). If you’d like, these are perfectly wonderful on their own. However, let’s go for presentation – that’s the fun part!
Sandwich the cookies with a layer of fresh raspberries softly nestled in a cloud of soft whipped cream made exotic with notes of floral rose and fruity raspberry. Accompany dessert with a glass of champagne – complete with pink, raspberry-studded ice cubes.
I can’t imagine a better way to romance someone than with this sweet treat! (Bonus: it’s gluten-free.)
Raspberry and Cream-Filled Chocolate Fudge Tower
Flourless Fudge Cookies (makes 16 cookies)
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 C (9 oz) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 t salt
- 1 t espresso powder
- 1 C (3 oz) cocoa powder (dark chocolate is preferable)
- 3 large egg whites, beaten slightly
- 2 t vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease it with cooking oil or softened butter.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the confectioners’ sugar, salt, espresso powder, and cocoa powder until evenly mixed. Stir in the egg whites and mix/fold until completely blended to a thick batter consistency with no lumps. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the dry ingredients. Be forewarned that this mixing process may take some time and arm power because of the high ratio of solid to liquid ingredients. Add the vanilla extract and mix until smooth; it will look like a very thick cake batter.
- Drop the soft, sticky dough onto the prepared baking sheets in 1 1/2″ mounds (a tablespoon-sized releasable cookie scoop works well).
- Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. They will spread and develop shiny, crackly tops.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan.
Rose-Raspberry Whipped Cream Filling
Ingredients
- 1 chilled heavy whipping cream
- 2 1/2 T powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 t framboise (clear raspberry brandy)
- 1/2 t vanilla extract
- 1/2 t rose water
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a deep glass bowl (to prevent/minimize splattering) and mix with a handheld mixer until soft peaks form.
Champagne with Pink Raspberry Ice Cubes
Ingredients
- Container of fresh raspberries (to be used for both the dessert, as garnish, and for the ice cubes)
- Pink juice or soda (I used a pink grapefruit sparkling soda)
- Bottle of champagne (I used an almond-flavored sparkling wine from Trader Joe’s)
Instructions
- Place 1-2 raspberries in each ice cube partition. Fill 3/4 with the juice or soda. Place in the freezer, until frozen.
- Chill champagne in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Assembling The Dessert
- Place a cookie on the serving platter.
- Put a small dollop of whipped cream on the cookie and spread towards the edge of the cookie.
- Place a layer of raspberries upside down on the cookie. Cover with a medium-sized dollop of whipped cream and lightly smooth so that the cream fills the space between the berries.
- Place a cookie on top of the berry and whipped cream layer. If desired, garnish with powdered sugar (I used a pearlescent edible aerosol spray) and a raspberry.
- Retrieve the ice cubes and champagne; put a few ice cubes in each champagne class and fill with champagne.
- Serve to ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’, toast with the champagne, declare your love/affection, and enjoy! <3
Wishing you a lovely Valentine’s Day, and I hope that this dessert may make an appearance anytime you want to indulge in something special and unique. Cheers!
xoxo,
oh wow this looks so delicious so yummy and absolutely gorgeous. I am not all lovey dovey with v-day this year but this would definitely rock my boat if i made or got something like this.
This looks so delicious. It is the perfect idea for couples
who prefer to stay in on Valentine’s Day instead of going out. I would probably
like to give it a try myself on a special occasion.
Oh my goodness … these are so decadently beautiful! Just to see the look on everyone’s face when they see them would be worth all the time and effort! And I love the idea of adding the rose – a feast for the eyes, nose and mouth!
Omg these look absolutely delicious!!!! And absolutely adorable! Beyond perfect for valentines day! Valentines is seriously the most fun holiday to cook and bake for…. Everything is red and pink which is something I just love 🙂
Oh my! This looks so yummy! I can see a few folks in my house ready to eat this all up! I think I am going to have to try this sometime soon. Your photography is amazing! I still struggle with food photography, but you, you got it down!! =D
Wow, first off, your photography is absolutely beautiful! Secondly, these look absolutely amazing and sound delicious, they’re made of all my favourite things – chocolate, raspberries, cream – so really what’s not to like?! I have to make these, pinning for later 🙂
That looks so tasty and too pretty to eat it.This would make the perfect Valentine’s dessert to eat this weekend by myself, haha. I’m going to have to book mark this and get the stuff to make it, looks so good.
These look absolutely amazing!! I love that the cookies are flour free. These honestly look like something you would buy from a specialty bakery not something you would expect to be home made. Great job on these!
I love how you can make something so incredibly elegant at home. I don’t know why, but it just isn’t Valentine’s Day to me if I don’t have champs, berries, and chocolate. Thankfully my husband has finally picked up on that. Can’t wait to try those raspberry ice cubes!
Amanda
http://www.queenofthelandoftwigsnberries.com
this looks so delicious and pretty!! 🙂 i love the way you styled it! these types of recipes are perfect for me. the less ingredients the better.. and i think i do have everything in my pantry except the raspberry and whipped cream.