Valentine’s Day… Okay, okay, I heard the groans and please stop with the eye rolls, you’re scaring me. I’m well aware that not everyone celebrates Valentine’s Day and a lot wish the day would go away entirely. February is a shorter month anyway, what’s one day?
I’m not overly fussed about the whole thing either, neither is Cameron, we may go to Pizza Express this year, more just to go out for dinner than because of the specific day… Plus, they have heart shaped dough balls!
Either way, we don’t go overboard on the occasion and I tend to long for it to be over sooner just so all the chocolate gets discounted! I’m here to share with you today a way for you to ‘survive’ Valentine’s Day in one step by providing you with one thing – dessert!
Whether you’re alone on Valentine’s, spending it with friends or with a partner, you can’t really go wrong with a yummy, sugar filled dessert so I figured this is a good idea. Plus, if you are on your own, why not do something which makes you feel good and just celebrate loving yourself! So, here’s a post full of pink sugary goodness which will make you forget if you’re alone or not… You’re welcome!
I also think these make pretty spectacular presents for someone too! Who could resist?
How To Make Valentine’s Themed Meringue Nests:
This recipe is super super simple and leaves you with meringue nests so pink and wonderful that you won’t be able to resist them. You may have seen my previous meringue themed post at Christmas but if you didn’t be sure to check it out here.
This recipe made four heart shaped meringue nests and some small meringue kisses, you can always double it if you want to make more.
Ingredients:
2 egg whites.
100g caster sugar.
Red food colouring.
Recipe:
- Pre-heat your oven to 100°C / 80°C fan. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and pencil out two heart shapes on each piece. Flip the paper over so the side you drew on it on the bottom, don’t worry, you will still be able to see the outlines.
- Put your 2 egg whites in a bowl and whisk on a low speed till foamy, increase the speed until the whites form firm peaks.
- Add the caster sugar a tablespoon at a time, making sure it is all whisked in before adding more. Whisk until the meringue is smooth, glossy and forms stiff peaks.
- If you’re feeling brave you should be able to turn the bowl of meringue upside down when it is ready and nothing will fall out.
- Drizzle red food colouring down the inside of the piping bag, as much or as little as you want. (It does not have to be really neat!)
- Fill your piping bag with meringue-goodness and pipe your heart shape nests. Start with the outline then fill in the middle making sure to not leave any gaps.
- Any left over mix pipe into meringue kisses.
- Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Once the timer goes off, turn the oven off but do NOT open the door. Let the meringues cool completely before opening the oven – I tend to leave them for a good few hours to make sure they’re ready. They may crack if you open the oven too early.
The Final Touches:
Ingredients:
Strawberries.
Double Cream.
Chocolate.
- For the final few steps to making your amazing dessert, take your double cream and whip it. Go slowly and as soon as it starts to thicken use a large spoon to fold the mix – if you whip it for too long or too fast you may end up with butter! No one wants that!
- Put whipped cream on top of your heart shaped nest (you can pipe it if you wish).
- Add chocolate coated strawberry halves to the top and serve.
- Use up the remaining strawberries by dipping them in chocolate – not essential to the dessert but they make a VERY tasty treat!
So, there we have it! If you’re celebrating Valentine’s with a significant other or not celebrating it and wishing for it to end, why not whip up this tasty treat to keep you company! I obviously had to do a taste test and well… it was love at first bite!
Let me know if you celebrate the occasion and whether you will be making these naughty little treats in the comments below! Thanks for reading!
All photography featured in this blog post are my own.
Oh my god yum!
Thank you!
Oh my goodness, my mouth is WATERING as I read this here at school haha! I might give this recipe a try on Thursday; I can enjoy these sweets with a movie by myself in the evening :’)
twinklexthoughts.blogspot.com
Thanks for reading, sorry to make you hungry in school aha! Let me know if you end up making these! x
I also don’t do too much for Valentine’s Day! Think me and my boyfriend and just going to order in some takeaway that’s as far as our celebrations go haha. Loving the cute love heart meringue nests <3
Chloe xx
http://www.chloechats.com
That sounds lovely! Thank you for reading! xx
Ahh these are so cute! I have never made my own meringues but you made it look so easy! I may try this out this week 😊
Thank you – let me know if you end up making them!
I love this idea! It’s so cute and my husband loves meringue, I would give these a go except he is currently on vacation so he gets nothing from me 😉
You can keep them all for yourself!
These look so good!! May have to convince my boyfriend to join my doing some baking on valentines!
Paige x
http://www.paigesummerx.wordpress.com
Thank you – let me know if you do! x
I’ve totally got to make these!
Enjoy! Hope you like them!
Oh wow, these are amazing! I’m going to give these a try this week but I know 100% they won’t turn out as beautiful as yours (my baking usually results in a huge mess on the plate) xxx
Thank you! Let me know if you end up making them, I’d love to see how they turned out! xx
YUM! I love the chocolate dipped strawberries chopped in half. I would never, ever have thought of that but it looks so great!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Cool! They look so good ♥️
Thank you!
These meringues look so yummy, great recipe Imogen! I’m saving this one to my Pinterest food board.
Thank you!
These look amazing! Not sure about the heart shaped dough balls though!
Thank you!
This meringue is the bomb. I love this recipe. I can’t wait to try this. This is so beautiful and so appetizing.
Thank you! x
These are way too cute! They just looks so beautiful and delicious. We’re not big Valentine’s Day fans, but thanks for inspiring me to make something fun for my hubby this year!
Thank you for reading! x
These look amazing, two of my favourite treats are meringue and chocolate covered strawberries 😋 I’ll definitely have to make these one day!
Hope you enjoy! x
Oh my gosh – these look divine! Definitely going to attempt this at some point… Hopefully I don’t fail at the meringue part eek! x
breakfastatshelbys.co.uk
Thank you!! x
These are beautiful, and definitely look way more complicated than they are! Always a plus!
Thank you, definitely really simple!
Oh man, so these look good. I so rarely do anything fun for Valentine’s Day. I am going to have to try these in the future.
Thanks for reading! x