Everyday Food (January/February 2011)
It's Valentine's Day! Time to impress your sweetheart with your culinary prowess.
You've chilled the Champagne; you've bought the lobsters. You've hired the violinist, lit the candles and wrapped up the teddy bear holding a heart.
But -- wait a minute! You've forgotten dessert! Somehow on this sweetest of days, you've overlooked the sweet finish to your dinner of romantical elegance and elegant romanticism.
You need a dessert that's sweet, chocolaty -- and super quick to make, with ingredients you have lying around the pantry.
Enter these Chocolate-Cherry Clusters to the rescue!
These are super easy no-bake drop-cookies with only three ingredients. But the dried cherries add a little bit of decadence and sweetness that make these a nice little sweet spot that can save your V-Day dinner in a pinch. We liked the mix of the chocolate with the cornflakes, too -- almost like a sweet-and-savory combo.
Still not convinced these little bites are decadent enough to serve at the altar of St. Valentine?
Okay, here are 10 ways to make these Chocolate-Cherry Clusters even sexier for Valentine's Day:
- Dress in super sexy lingerie while you make the cookies.
- Dress the cookies themselves in tiny little hand-made lingerie sets.
- Play some Al Green while you melt the chocolate.
- Quadruple the recipe to make enough cookies to spell out, "HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY 2011, DARLING."
- Together with your sweetheart, hold the bowl of chocolate over a candle, while staring lovingly into each other's eyes, in order to melt the chocolate. (*This will add approximately 6 hours to the cooking time of this recipe).
- Have your sweetheart lie down face first, cover his or her back with parchment paper, and spoon the cookies onto the parchment and then allow them to cool. (*Your sweetheart must remain perfectly still for at least 1 hour.)
- Same as Number 6, but your sweetheart's lying on a bear-skin rug. Sexy!
- Use local, organic cornflakes, to show that you love your sweetheart but you hate the agro-business industrial complex.
- Eat the cookies while watching something sensual and romantic, like Hoarders, on Netflix instant-streaming.
- Think of everything you love about your sweetheart. Tap into your deepest, most heartfelt feelings to convey your love in a 100-stanza epic poem. The poem should be sincere, romantic and emotionally raw. Hand-calligraph the poem onto delicate sheets of beautiful pink paper. Arrange the sheets of paper in a beautiful, stunning heart-shaped pattern. Scoop out the cookies onto the paper and let them cool for 1 hour. Discard the paper.
Enjoy!
Chocolate-Cherry Clusters
Everyday Food (January/February 2011)
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Makes 18
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes + cooling time
Ingredients:
- 3 cups cornflakes
- 1/2 cup dried cherries
- 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (1 3/4 cups)
1. In a large bowl, break cornflakes into small pieces with your fingers. Add cherries and toss together.
2. Place 2/3 cup chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water. Stir occasionally until chocolate melts, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining chocolate, stirring until melted. (Alternately, microwave the chocolate in a bowl in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until melted).) Pour over cornflake mixture and, with a rubber spatula, gently fold just until cereal and cherries and completely coated.
3. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto two parchment-lined baking sheets and let set in a cool, dry place, 1 hour. (Store in an airtight container, up to 1 week.)
