Two Valentine’s Day Recipes

ear Miracles: Valentine’s Day is here! You can always write a love letter to your beloved, but consider serving them a sexy cup of coffee in the morning and ending your day with decadent truffles. Here are two recipes from my magical cupboard to get your day off to the right start and end it sweetly.

Caffe de Amore

Ground coffee for press pot or automatic coffee maker

1 small-medium sized vanilla bean

4 whole cardamom seeds

3 pinches ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon cacao nibs

Sugar, honey, agave nectar and rose or orange water to finish

Combine ground coffee and the next 4 ingredients and brew coffee as normal. While coffee is brewing pray the 1st 3 verses of the Song of Songs, call out the name of your beloved and pray that when they drink this coffee they are filled with warm and loving thoughts of you and your relationship with them. When coffee is ready add a splash of rose or orange water and sweetener as desired. Serve with a smile-clothing is optional!

Touch Me Truffles

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1 vanilla bean

splash of rosewater

4 cardamom seeds

1 cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers

1 teaspoon fig juice and meat

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon stick, lavender flowers, and fig juice/meat with cream. Cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes, add chocolate and cook until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in rosewater. Pour into a small dish and refrigerate until set, but not hard, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Use to fill candies or form balls and roll in toppings.

As you are cooking pray from your heart that the sweetness your beloved experiences when they eat these candies be the sweetness they are filled with for you.

Topping ideas:

cacao powder

cinnamon powder

candied rose petals

ground cardamom and cinnamon combined

sweet red pepper (ground)

Feed to your beloved between sips of icy champagne and some Shakespeare sonnets, you will get lucky!