Cupids Coupe Recipes

CUPID'S COUPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the phyllo sheet with butter and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Cut the sheet in half crosswise and then lengthwise to make 4 rectangles. Make a fan by taking the short side of 1 of the rectangles and gathering it together like pleats on a skirt, pinching the pleats together to make them stick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining rectangles. Bake until light brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Place a scant pint of the strawberries in a blender and puree, stopping as necessary to scrape sides of jar. Pass the puree through a fine sieve so you are left with only a thick liquid. Set aside. Whip cream to soft peaks. Add the sugar and the lime zest. Whip to stiff peaks. Coarsely chop enough of the remaining strawberries to make 1/2 cup. Stir them into the cream mixture. Stir in the strawberry puree.
• Thinly slice the remaining strawberries. Either use a small heart-shaped cutter to cut hearts out of the strawberry slices or trim them into heart shapes with a small knife. Press several of the strawberry hearts in a decorative, asymmetrical pattern against the inside of each of 4 wineglasses. Spoon in the mousse. Top with a layer of strawberry hearts. Place the narrow end of each fan into the mousse. Serve immediately.

CUPID CAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 17-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat and set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together eggs and sugar until pale and thick (the whisk should hold a ribbon-like train on the surface when raised). Add mayonnaise and vanilla paste and whisk until fully incorporated.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Transfer flour mixture to a fine-mesh sieve and sift ingredients into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture to egg mixture in three additions, alternating with 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon water, mixing well after each addition.
• Transfer batter to prepared baking sheet. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in baking sheet on a wire rack. Using a 3 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out 12 hearts. Using a 1-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out the center of each of the larger hearts, taking care not to cut all the way through; discard centers. Transfer each cake to a plate.
• Fill the center sections of each heart with 1 tablespoon passion-caramel filling and top each with 1 tablespoon marshmallow filling. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch round tip (Wilton No. 809) with chocolate icing; pipe icing over filling.
• Place fondant on a nonstick baking mat; press your thumb into the center of the fondant to make a well. Add 5 drops of food coloring in the well and knead fondant until color is well blended. Working with about 6 tablespoons fondant at a time, roll out into a 14-inch circle about 1/8-inch-thick. Cut out a 13-by-13-by-13-inch triangle from the circle.
• Drape fondant triangle over one of the heart-shaped cakes with the 4-inch side draped over the widest part of the heart. Using your fingers, press fondant to adhere; trim edges. Repeat process with remaining fondant and cakes.
• Gather scraps of fondant and place on a nonstick baking mat; press your thumb into the center of the fondant to make a well. Add 5 drops of food coloring in the well and knead until color is well blended. Roll out fondant 1/8-inch thick; using a 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out 12 hearts. Place a heart on each cake and tie a brown ribbon around the bottom edge of each cake, if desired. Serve immediately.