Ingredients:

– 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

– 1/2 cup granulated sugar

– 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

– 1/4 teaspoon salt

– 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

– 1/2 cup buttermilk

– 1/4 cup vegetable oil

– 1 large egg

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– 1 teaspoon red food coloring

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a cupcake tin with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder until well combined.

3. In another bowl, mix buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg, vanilla extract, and red food coloring until smooth.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.

5. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

6. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Icing and Sugar Sparkles:

Ingredients:

– 1 cup powdered sugar

– 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream

– 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

– Sugar sparkles or sprinkles

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla extract until smooth. Adjust the consistency by adding more milk if too thick, or more powdered sugar if too thin.

2. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, drizzle the vanilla icing over the tops of the cupcakes.

3. Sprinkle sugar sparkles or sprinkles over the icing for extra sparkle and sweetness.

Heart-Shaped Shortbread Pink Cookies:

You can make the shortbread cookies ahead of time using a basic shortbread recipe, and then shape them into hearts and decorate them with pink icing or sprinkles.

Ingredients:

– 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

– 1/2 cup powdered sugar

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– 2 cups all-purpose flour

– Pink food coloring (gel or liquid)

– Heart-shaped cookie cutter

– Pink icing or sprinkles for decoration

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.

3. Gradually add the flour, mixing until a dough forms.

4. Add pink food coloring to the dough and mix until evenly colored.

5. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness.

6. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out cookies and place them onto the prepared baking sheet.

7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.

8. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.

9. Once cooled, decorate the cookies with pink icing or sprinkles as desired.

Enjoy your delicious red velvet cupcakes with vanilla icing, sugar sparkles, and heart-shaped shortbread pink cookies! Perfect for sharing with loved ones on Valentine’s Day or any special occasion.

Step into the world of sweet gestures with our delightful Strawberry Jam Love Letters. Crafted with care and filled with luscious strawberry jam, these pastry treats are an edible expression of affection that will captivate your taste buds. Let’s embark on this easy and heartwarming baking adventure together!

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets of shortcrust pastry
• Plain flour, for dusting
• 165g strawberry jam
• Egg wash
• 50g caster sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions:

Step 1: Preparing the Pastry

1. Preheat your oven to 190°C (170ºC fan) and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the shortcrust pastry. Cut out diamond shapes, each side measuring about 10cm. Transfer the diamonds to the prepared baking tray. If needed, reroll the pastry to create more diamonds, aiming for about 6 in total.

Step 2: Filling and Folding

1. In the center of each diamond, add a small dollop of strawberry jam.
2. Fold three of the corners into the center, creating an open envelope shape. Gently press down to seal the edges.
3. Use a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut hearts out of the remaining pastry, placing one in the center of each envelope.

Step 3: Brushing and Baking

1. Brush the envelopes with an egg wash for a golden finish.
2. Sprinkle caster sugar over the top for a sweet touch.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the envelopes turn golden.

Step 4: Cooling and Enjoying

1. Allow the Strawberry Jam Love Letters to cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes.
2. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely before indulging in these delightful pastry creations.

Transform ordinary moments into sweet memories with our Strawberry Jam Love Letters. These enchanting pastries are not just a treat for the taste buds but a charming gesture that says, “I care.” Enjoy the process of creating and sharing these edible love letters with those you hold dear.

Here’s what you need to make it:

Ingredients:

Cake:
1 ¼ lbs strawberries remove stems and quarter them

⅔ cup whole milk

½ cup vegetable or canola oil 

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened 

1 ¾ cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups cake flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 large egg whites² room temperature preferred

Food coloring optional

Filling:

⅓ cup granulated sugar 

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

⅛ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Frosting:

2 cups cold heavy cream 

1 ½ cups powdered sugar, divided 

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

⅛ teaspoon salt

8 oz cream cheese softened 

Preparation:

Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and prepare two 8” round cake pans by spraying with baking spray and lining the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place quartered strawberries in a blender and puree until smooth. Run through a fine mesh sieve over a measuring cup until you have 1 – 1 ¼ cups of juice. Keep the berry pulp and set this along with any remaining pureed berries for the jam filling.

Pour strawberry juice into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until reduced to ⅓ cup. This usually takes about 10 minutes.

Once reduced, add ⅔ cup milk to the strawberry reduction and whisk together. If using food coloring, whisk that in here as well. Set aside.

In a large bowl using a stand mixer, beat together oil, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until completely combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, gradually alternate adding the flour mixture and strawberry/milk mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until just combined after each addition. (I start and end with the flour and add the flour mixture in 4 parts and the milk mixture in 3 parts.)

Place egg whites in a separate clean, dry bowl, and beat on high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

Using a spatula, gently fold egg whites into cake batter until completely combined (don’t use your electric mixer at this point or you will over-beat the batter). Divide cake batter evenly into prepared pans and bake on 350°F for 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Allow cakes to cool in pans for 10 minutes then run a knife around the edges to loosen cakes from pan and invert onto cooling rack to cool completely. While cooling, prepare the jam filling.

Jam Filling

Combine remaining strawberry pulp, ⅓ cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt in a small saucepan and whisk to combine.

Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and the whisk leaves a trail through the jam (this takes about 5-10 minutes).

Remove from heat, transfer to a heat-proof bowl, and place in the refrigerator to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare your frosting.

Frosting:
Combine cream cheese, ½ cup (65g) powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat together until creamy and smooth.

In a separate bowl (preferably a chilled metal bowl), combine remaining (1 cup, 125g) powdered sugar and cold heavy cream. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

With the mixer on low speed, stir together the cream cheese and whipped cream until completely combined.

Assembly:
Once cake and jam are completely cooled, place one layer of cake on a serving tray. Use a piping bag fitted with a round tip (I use an Ateco 808) to pipe a dam around the layer. Fill with your jam filling.

Top with a second layer of cake. Cover the entire cake with frosting.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

This cake is fluffy, airy and tastes as beautiful as it looks. It’s perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Ingredients:

2 Ounces of Strawberry vodka
2 Ounces vodka
1 Ounce of St. Germain
1 lemon wedge, 2
Whole strawberries
1 sliced strawberry
1 Sprig fresh thyme ＋ 1 to garnish

Here’s how to make it:

– Add the strawberry vodka, regular vodka, St. Germain, one sprig of fresh thyme, juice from a lemon wedge, and the wedge to a  cocktail shaker & shake vigorously.
– Strain into your Cosmopolitan Glass & add the remaining sprig of fresh thyme and sliced strawberry for garnish.  Sip and enjoy!
We promised there wouldn’t be any more cheesy puns in the rest of this post, and we’re sticking by what we said! In fact, there’s no cheese in our Valentine’s Day setup this year. Valentine’s Day is about chocolate (especially the sales on chocolate the next day), so our idea is to skip the cheese boards and build a chocolate board instead! 

On a beautiful cheese board, place 2 small bowls filled with chocolate, you can have 2 bowls of melted chocolate (dark and milk) like we did, or you can fill one with melted chocolate and the other with chocolate candies.

Now that you’ve got your chocolate in the centre, build around them using anything you’d like! This is where you can have fun with it and get creative. Pastries, fruits, cookies, marshmallows, it’s totally up to you. If you want to forego the accompaniments and just dive into the bowls of chocolate with a spoon, that’s fine too, it’s Valentine’s Day and we’re not judging.
These were some creative ways you could elevate your Valentine’s Day at home. We wish you a very Happy Valentine’s Day full of lots of love. Share your V-Day Celebrations with us on social media by using the hashtag #StokesMoments and tag us Instagram @stokesstores.

Enjoy!

#1: Homemade Happiness

Restaurants are buzzing on Valentine’s Day. This year, ditch the stuffy formal wear and crowds for something more relaxing, at your own pace. Spending quality time together is one of the best ways to say “I love you”. Tonight, trade-in your fancy clothes for an apron and get comfy – it’s time to get cooking! Cooking together is fun and interactive; the best part is that you get to eat the fruits of your labour (not actual fruits, we’re cooking something more challenging this time around).

On the menu tonight? Homemade pasta. Don’t be intimidated! It may sound ambitious but with the right tools, making pasta from scratch will seem easy-peasy-fusili! There are little variations everywhere, but the most standard way to make pasta dough is to mix eggs, all-purpose flour, olive oil and salt and then knead it with a stand mixer until the dough is smooth and elastic and ready to rest.

As your dough rests, it’s time to let your creativity do the work – ravioli or linguine? The ravioli route is the best way to go when you have a filling you’re dying to try! It could be a classic ricotta spinach filling or something with an umami punch. To ensure that your filling stays in and doesn’t spill out, it’s essential to get the right shape for your pasta. Here’s where you’ll thank yourself for having a ravioli maker and rolling pin handy! Your ravioli will come out with perfectly crimped edges and the mould is deep enough to hold a good amount of filling.

Not really feeling the fillings? Don’t worry!  Here is where you finally whip out that impressive pasta machine you got as a gift a year ago but kept on the counter untouched as “decoration”. Use the machine to make noodles, whichever way you prefer: tagliatelle, linguine, pappardelle, etc. As one of you is drying the pasta, the other can get started on the sauce – teamwork makes the dream work! Once you’ve served up your homemade pasta, take a moment to marvel at what you’ve made together!

What is dinner without dessert? It’s not Valentine’s Day without a bit of chocolate! Ditch the heart-shaped box of chocolates (get that on clearance the next day) and make your own little chocolate hearts instead. You just made homemade pasta, homemade chocolate is going to be a breeze!

One of the simplest and most foolproof recipes you can use for homemade chocolates is mixing melted coconut oil, raw cocoa powder, maple syrup and sea salt together. Once smooth and perfectly incorporated, pour your chocolate mix into the heart-shaped moulds you’ve been saving for Valentine’s Day and leave in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to let it set. When they’re ready, gently pop them out of their moulds and sprinkle with a bit of pink Himalayan sea salt and candied rose petals if you’re feeling extra fancy. Just like that, look at what you accomplished! Homemade pasta, made from scratch with chocolates to end on a sweet note. Sure, there might be flour everywhere, but as long as the drinks are flowing and you’re enjoying each other’s company, isn’t that what the spirit of Valentine’s Day is really about?

#2: Wine & Cheese

Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday this year. We can’t think of a better way to end the workweek than to unwind with someone you love over some good wine and cheese. Bring the 5-7 vibe home and make it romantic. The first thing is to ensure that wine, cheese and accoutrements are plentiful. The next step is really what brings it to life: the setup.

Here is where you absolutely forego the solo cups and upgrade your glassware. A good set of wine glasses is a staple in any home. Want to feel extra classy? Decant your wine. It makes a world of a difference and makes your Valentine’s Day wine and cheese setup look even more thoughtful. Also – pouring wine straight out of a decanter instead of the bottle really adds a Tuscan charm to your date.

While we’re confident in your wine guzzling abilities, this isn’t one of those kinds of nights. Take cheese breaks! We eat with our eyes and plating makes all the difference. We recommend going with a marble finish to ensure both durability and style but a wood tray is a timeless choice. A cheese board is naked without cheese – mix up a variety of textures and flavours when choosing cheeses, ranging from soft, firm, hard and blues if you dare. Break it up with accompaniments like semi-sweet or tart fruits for palate cleansers, and of course crackers and breads.

This Valentine’s date relies on the presentation as much as it does on the wine and cheese – make sure you’re well-equipped!

#3: Raclette Night

If you’re not spending Valentine’s Day in the Maldives (join the club), don’t stress about it. How about a private little indoor getaway? While February is mostly about being cold and wet, bring the warmth inside and pretend you’re in a cozy cabin getaway for Valentine’s Day.

Hot chocolate and mulled wines are never too far from reach at a cabin getaway – now you just need the right food to set the mood. If you live in a small space, you may not have the cupboard space to store a whole raclette and grill – but for a cozy cabin themed Valentine’s Date, we would recommend getting a mini raclette for 2. Just by the simple gesture of going out and getting one will make such a difference, your date will definitely be touched! Melt that ooey gooey raclette cheese onto delicious herby potatoes and use the grill to sizzle up some vegetables, meat and/or seafood to enjoy a hearty and warm meal together.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any cozier – it does! As you may have gathered from our other Valentines ideas, we’re huge fans of chocolate. We couldn’t let you end your night without something sweet. Staying true to our cabin themed surprise, here is when we would have you bring out your pièce de resistance: chocolate fondue!

Let’s keep it real, a chocolate fondue set can be wonderful on its own for one person, but it is infinitely better when shared. As your chocolate is melting, cut up some fruits like strawberries and bananas to dip. We also like to add wafers and bite sized waffle pieces to our fondue – but we would probably eat anything if it was dipped in chocolate.

Cozy, casual and fun – this indoor cabin getaway date is sure to warm your heart, even on the coldest days.

#4: Breakfast In Bed

This Valentine’s Surprise may be one that is the most difficult. You may be wondering what could seem more difficult than making pasta from scratch…this date requires you waking up early – very early. Everyone loves breakfast in bed, no matter what day it is.

Being able to have coffee or mimosas in bed without ever getting up once is a real luxury that anyone would appreciate. Since this is Valentine’s Day, we’re going beyond basic breakfasts and taking it up a notch. We’re making waffles!  The hardest part is the batter since there are so many varying recipes these days – but once you feel like you’ve chosen the right one and you’re confident in your flour to egg ratio – it’s time to make the actual waffles. French toast has been done before and pancakes would have been too predictable, which is why we went with waffles as they seem way harder to make. The perfect honeycomb texture of a waffle may seem daunting, but nothing is impossible with the right waffle maker. Trust us, when you open up the waffle maker to reveal symmetrical, fluffy waffles – they will be sure to be the best surprise and start off Valentine’s morning on a syrupy sweet note.

These were 4 ways to do something out of the ordinary this Valentine’s Day. Let us know if you have other ideas for Valentine’s Day surprises. Enjoy!