Black Forest Tartlets with Chocolate Cherries

Chocolate-dipped cherries + cherry-cream filling + chocolate cup = tasty morsel.  They were fun to eat, but they took some time to assemble.  Worth it for a Valentine's Day dessert, but I don't think we'll be making these again anytime soon.

The first step was painting chocolate layers into little foil cups.  Kate did the first round and I did the second.  We made a dozen, and I promise that the one in the photo at the top is the best of the bunch.

The second step was dipping cherries in the same chocolate.  Easy enough, but I haven't learned the trick to cooling them without a flat puddle of chocolate attached to the bottom.

The third step was making the cherry filling.  It starts by dissolving gelatin in cherry preserves over low heat.  Then I whipped heavy cream until it had stiff peaks.  The tricky part is folding the mixture into the cream without losing the fluffiness.  My final product, as you can see, wasn't nearly as uniform or appetizing as the photos in the magazine.  Luckily, it still tasted good.

Once everything was chilled, I started assembly by using tweezers to remove the foil from the chocolate cups.  I then spooned a dollop of the cherry filling into the cup and topped it with a cherry.  Three to a plate and our holiday dessert was ready!

Marshmallows

This might seem like a lot of effort for something you can buy at your supermarket, but it's fun to make and we think it's cool to have the know-how.  It is molten lava when it cooks, and sticky when it cools, so be careful and use a lot of non-stick oil and powder when you make this.

Hot marshmallow mixture in the pan.

Don't worry too much about the appearance when you spread it.  The irregularity in thickness is expected in a home-made product.  Just be sure to spray the pan before you pour the mixture into it.

Marshmallow Sheet

If you did it right, the mixture should just fall out when you flip the pan.  Don't make the mistake that I did and flip it onto an un-powdered cutting board.  This stuff is sticky and will not release otherwise.  I used a rolling pin as a straight-edge when I cut the squares.  Throw them in a bowl with the powdered sugar, and give it a toss after every row.

These things keep forever at room temperature, and a bag of them are a fun holiday gift for your friends.  They also work in a mug of hot chocolate.