ELEVATING THE ROMANCE
Tasty delights for Valentine’s Day
Whether it’s the finishing touch on a romantic dinner, a treat for the little ones, or a sweet something for friends or colleagues, homebaked goodies are sure to be welcomed on Valentine’s Day. Taking the time to make something special conveys the sentiment of the holiday, and of course, you can’t go wrong with chocolate.
Sarah Kieffer, the author and baker behind The Vanilla Bean Blog, leans toward chocolatey delights for Valentine’s Day. This year, she’ll likely make a doublechocolate snacking cake decorated with tiny candy hearts for her children, ages seven and nine.
“(Before we had kids), I loved breakfast in bed. Just reading in bed together in the morning and having warm cinnamon rolls, that sounds amazing. But Valentine’s Day has changed for me — it’s more about making things for my kids than being romantic. When it falls on a school day, I try to make it exciting and have something waiting for them when they come home,” Kieffer says.
“Especially with young children, I just see it as celebrating love, and celebrating our family in a different way. It’s so fun to bake and share that — taking it from the commercialism of: ‘we have to buy something’ or ‘we have to go out for a fancy dinner.’ I like to bring it into my home and have a fun treat, and make it about our family and what that looks like to us.”
As Kieffer writes in her first cookbook, The Vanilla Bean Baking Book (Penguin Canada, 2016), she prefers minimal cake decor — favouring fresh flowers, sprinkles and nuts, and texturing to embellish party cakes.
For Valentine’s Day in particular, adding a few rosy red or blush blooms is an approachable way to beautify baked goods. (Look for flowers that are food-safe, and haven’t been sprayed with pesticides.)
“I like to use fresh flowers (for Valentine’s Day). My grocery store sells tiny little roses in different colours and I like to decorate with those a lot. They could go on cookies with frosting or on cake, and it would look so pretty and simple. Otherwise, just a little pale pink food colouring on something looks really pretty,” she says.
Although she has many years of professional baking under her belt, Kieffer says that home baking is where her heart is. She has great respect for pastry chefs — their skill and commitment — but adds that creativity and artistry can also be exercised at home. As a starting point for burgeoning experimental bakers, she offers various types of cake bases (chocolate, yellow, and white), and buttercream in the book (Swiss meringue, Italian meringue, American and ermine) that can be mixed-and-matched.
“It’s good to learn recipes and to bake something as it’s written the first couple of times, but once you get familiar with it, there’s room to create and try new things. Be open (to the fact), that it might not work out, but still take that step in being creative.
“I want more people to take that chance and to not be afraid in their own home. To just play in the kitchen, even when it comes to baking, and to lose that intimidation of ‘it has to be this certain way’ or ‘this pastry chef says I can’t do it this way.’ Maybe you can,” she says with a laugh.
Especially with young children, I just see (Valentine’s Day) as celebrating love, and celebrating our family in a different way. It’s so fun to bake and share that — taking it from the commercialism of: ‘we have to buy something’ or ‘we have to go out for a fancy dinner.’ — Sarah Kieffer, author of The Vanilla Bean Blog