Love snacks to make and share
Surprise your little sweetheart with a vintage-inspired delight you can make together or serve as a special Valentine’s Day treat.
Sweet Chalet
3 chocolate Graham crackers Red and blue food colouring Vanilla frosting Various purple and white candies, for decorating Shredded coconut
1. Arrange graham crackers on a plate and cover with a dampened paper towel. Microwave 20 seconds to soften crackers. Cut one in half, then cut each piece into identical triangles. Trim remaining crackers into identical rectangles to form the roof (they should each be about half an inch taller than the triangles).
2. Add several drops of red and blue food colouring to frosting until you reach the desired shade of lavender. Place several tablespoons of frosting in a zip-top bag and snip off a corner.
3. Pipe on frosting designs and attach candy decorations to each piece (don’t forget a front door!). Let set.
4. Pipe frosting along the long edges of each triangle, then press roof pieces into place. Add the final decorations and let set. Arrange chalet on a small plate. Sprinkle with shredded coconut.
Love Tattoo Cupcakes
2 large white fruit-chew candy strips (we used Airheads) 12 cupcakes 3 cups pink frosting 12 (2-inch) heart-shaped gummy candies Chocolate frosting
1. Cut a 2-inch length of fruit-chew candy and set it on a plate. Microwave for five seconds. Use a rolling pin to stretch and flatten the candy. Cut a thin strip lengthwise into a banner shape, as shown.
2. Working with one cupcake at a time, cover it with the pink frosting. Top it with a heart gummy candy. Then bend the ends of the candy banner, and press the banner into place.
3. Put the chocolate frosting into a zip-top bag and snip off a corner. Pipe the word LOVE onto the banner.
Cupid’s Arrow Cookies
12 pretzel sticks ½ cup blue candy melts Blue conversation hearts 1 cup vanilla frosting Blue food colouring 24 chocolate wafer cookies (we used Nabisco Famous Wafers) Sugar 12 blue fruit slices 12 large white gumdrops
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the pretzel sticks on top, spaced at least 2 inches apart. Melt the candy melts according to package directions. Place melted candy in a zip-top bag and snip off a corner. Pipe a feather onto the end of each pretzel. Dot the opposite end of some pretzel sticks with the candy melt and attach a heart. Let the candy harden.
2. Set aside a few tablespoons of vanilla frosting. Tint the remaining frosting with the food colouring. Use the tinted frosting and chocolate wafers to make 12 sandwich cookies.
3. Dust a cutting board with sugar. Trim and discard rind edge of blue fruit slices; use a rolling pin to flatten each one into a large, thin rectangle. Use round cookie cutters to cut 12, 2-inch and 1-inch circles from the flattened candy. Continue to add sugar to the board and the candy as you work to prevent sticking.
4. Flatten each white gumdrop the same way. Use a cookie cutter to cut 12, 1½-inch rounds.
5. Assemble a bull’s-eye on top of each cookie using dots of white frosting to hold the pieces in place. Use more frosting to attach the arrows on top of each cookie.
Hugs and Kisses Candy Buttons
Freezer paper 4 teaspoons meringue powder (available in the baking section of craft stores and some grocery stores) 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted ½ tsp peppermint extract 3 tablespoons water Red and yellow food colouring
1. Cut 10 strips of freezer paper into 8- by 3inch rectangles. Arrange them shiny-sidedown on two baking sheets. Set aside.
2. Use a mixer on medium-high speed to combine meringue powder, sugar, peppermint extract and water until mixture forms stiff peaks and loses its sheen, about five minutes.
3. Divide meringue into small bowls and tint with food colouring as desired. Transfer each colour to a zip-top bag and snip off a corner. Pipe X’s, O’s, and dots onto each strip. Let the candy dry completely, about four hours.
Bee Mine Meringue Pops
1 cup yellow candy melts 24 meringue cookies 12 (6-inch) lollipop sticks 24 white spice drops 24 yellow M&M’s candies Black food writer Flower sprinkles (we used Wilton brand) Yellow washi tape Black permanent marker
1. Melt candy melts according to package directions. Use a sharp knife (an adult’s job) to make a small slit in the top of 12 meringue cookies. Dip end of each lollipop stick into melted candy and insert it into a prepared cookie. Let candy set five minutes.
2. Spread candy melt on remaining cookies; sandwich each with one of the pops. Stand pops up in a tall glass to set.
3. Trim a small disk from the end of each spice drop, then halve each round to form a set of wings. Use sticky side of candy to adhere wings to each M&M. Add bee stripes with the food writer.
4. Lay each pop on its side. Attach bees and flower sprinkles with melted candy. Let set, then add a washi-tape flag with the message “bee mine” in permanent marker.