Food & Family #4 Valentines Treats

Valentine's Treats

Today's theme was Valentines Treats. What better way to spend a beautiful Saturday than with a few beautiful friends. Check out our menu from today and then plan your Valentines Day for your sweetheart.

We had Hershey Bar Cake. So full of rich, sweet, wonderful chocolate. Delicious.

Red Velvet Cheese Ball. So smooth and creamy. Wow! Unbelievable.

Apple, Strawberry Crisp. Crispy apples paired with rich, tangy strawberries with a crunchy topping then baked to perfection. Genious!

Beautiful table setting.

What could be better to offset all the sweets than with this scrumptious Jambalaya with rice.

Two beautiful ladies. So glad you were with us today.

The menu today:

Hershey Bar Cake
Cheesecake Dip with fruit and cookies
Red Velvet Cheese Ball
Jambalaya with Rice
Apple & Strawberry Crisp
Reese's Cup Cheesecake Cupcakes
Brie, Chocolate Chip & Basil Panini
Strawberry Limeade Punch

Hershey Bar Cake:

6 (1.55 oz each) Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars                            2 1/2 cups all purpose flour                
1 1/2 cups Hersheys Syrup, use can, not squeeze bottle              1/2 tsp baking soda  
1 cup butter                                                                                   1 cup buttermilk 
2 cups sugar                                                                                  2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 300. Grease & flour tube pan or two bundt pans; set aside. This recipe will overflow tube pan so be prepared for extra batter, even with larger pans.

1. In top of double boiler, over hot but not boiling water, combine 6 candy bars and approximately 1 1/2 cups of syrup. I use the entire 10.5oz can. Stir until melted and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter & sugar at medium speed with electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add melted chocolate. Beat well.
3. In another bowl, sift flour and baking soda together.
4. Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk to sugar mixture.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
6. Bake 1 1/2 hours @ 300 degrees.. Cool in pan(s) 10 minutes. Invert onto wire rack to cool completely before adding candy bar icing/glaze.

Icing:

7 (1.55oz each)  Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars
evaporated milk

In top of double boiler, over hot but not boiling water, melt 7 Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars with about 1/4 cup evaporated milk (more or less depending on the consistency you want - either thick or thin glaze? Start with a small amount of milk at a time, and when all the candy is melted slowly pour over cake(s).

Slow Cooker Jambalaya:

1lb skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1" cubes
1lb smoked turkey sausage, sliced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes
1 cup chicken broth
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
white rice or instant rice (I used 2 packs of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice - Garlic & Butter flavor)

In a slow cooker, mix the chicken, sausage, tomatoes with juice, onion, garlic, celery, and broth. Season with oregano, parsley, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and thyme.  Cover and cook 7-8 hours on low, or 3-4 hours on high. Serve with cooked rice.