{ love letters }

Special delivery for Aidan's Valentine's Day class party. 

{ boston minis }

Sometimes a big, full-size cake is just too much of a good thing.

Ty loves Boston Cream Pie of any kind (including the Dunkin Donuts variety), so when I discovered this recipe for the mini version of the classic dessert, I was pleased as pudding (HA!). It was a perfect Valentine's Day sweet treat that wouldn't ruin our healthy eating efforts for the entire week by taunting us with leftovers from the fridge.

So yummy -- it was a major hit with the Boston Cream Pie lover in my house. I foresee this being a recipe I'll repeat ... any times.

Mini Boston Cream Pies
(adapted from kraftrecipes)

Ingredients

• 1 package of yellow cake mix
• 1 envelope (3.4 oz.) vanilla flavored instant pudding
• 1 cup cold milk
• 1-1/2 cups thawed whipped topping, divided
• 4 squares semi-sweet chocolate

Process

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 24 cupcakes. Cool completely.

With electric mixer, beat pudding mix and milk about 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, use serrated knife to cut cupcakes horizontally in half. With the same knife, trim the top, rounded layer off of cupcakes so that both the tops and bottoms of the cakes are flat.

Fold 1/2 cup whipped topping into pudding; spoon onto bottom halves of cupcakes, using about 1 Tbsp. for each.* Cover with cupcake tops.

 

Microwave remaining whipped topping and chocolate  squares in small glass bowl on high 1-1/2 minutes, or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until well blended.  Spoon and spread chocolate onto cupcakes. 

Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes (the longer, the better) and serve.   

*I actually doubled the pudding recipe, as it's my favorite part of the recipe. I ended up with way more than I needed, so as the cupcakes began to cool, I pulled them apart and added another dollop of the cream mixture. Initially, the pudding was too runny to do so and just ran over the side, so I let it set for a while before adding more

{ pink }

Valentine's Day. I sort of have a love/hate relationship with the whole thing.

Of course it's nice to dedicate an entire day to those whom you love, but should it take a greeting card industry to mandate such a thing? But I guess the same can be said about any day that's celebrated annually.

There's just so much pink. And so much sticky. And so much sweet. And so many hearts.

But there's also chocolate. And champagne. And silliness ... and those are good things.

Here's a set of cookies I made for the Boston Coast Guard Spouse Association's upcoming bake sale. I hope they're enjoyed by people who love pink, sticky, sweet, hearts -- cause it's all wrapped up in there, baby!