A gushy romantic, I am not. Red isn't my colour either. Those who know me, know that I’m not one to be publicly and overtly expressive when it comes to all manners of romanticism. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy a date night out with my husband or watching a rom com movie. Roman Holiday is one of my all-time favourite movies. Beaches isn't a romantic movie of sorts but I’ve watched it a dozen times and this touching story about friendship always ends in tears for me. I do love pretty flowers and I wouldn’t say no to afternoon tea with pretty cakes and little sandwiches. But I can’t succumb to going out on Valentine’s Day to a restaurant filled with other couples swooning over each other. I just couldn’t bear the cringe factor. I am making an effort though this year.
But why celebrate Valentines Day with just your romantic love? I’d like to think of this day as one where we celebrate our love for the people in our lives, be it female friends, male friends, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, cousins. With this in mind, I made these dense and moist mini chocolate pound cakes, and to add a splash of Valentines colour I topped them with a pretty pink raspberry glaze, which is as close as I will get to red.
Instead of giving cards and chocolates, I’ll be sharing these to my husband and girlfriends. That’s if I don’t eat them all first.
Happy Valentines everyone!
Makes 12 small cakes
FOR THE CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cups cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup caster sugar
225g butter at room temperature
3 large eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
FOR THE RASPBERRY GLAZE
200g fresh raspberries
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp rosewater
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4. Grease and flour a deep 12 hole muffin tin.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder into a bowl.
Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time then the vanilla extract and sour cream. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches to the bowl with the wet ingredients and continue to mix until the batter is combined.
Divide the batter into the muffin tins ensuring you fill the holes 3/4 way to the top, as the batter will rise during baking. Using an ice-cream scoop helps! Bake for 25-30 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool in the tin for 10 mins before turning them onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing them.
To make the icing, add the raspberries to a blender and blend until smooth. Push the mixture through a sieve into a bowl to extract the juice and discard the raspberry seeds. Add the icing sugar to another mixing bowl, add the rosewater and 1 tsp of the raspberry juice to begin with. Using a spatula mix thoroughly until well-combined and to remove lumps. Continue to add more raspberry juice 1 tsp at a time until you achieve the right consistency. Ensure the mixture is not too runny. Dip the tops of the cakes into the mixture, flip them over and place the cakes on a wire rack to allow the glaze to set. Place baking paper underneath the wire rack to catch any glaze that drips from the cakes.
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