81/99: Double Chocolate Valentine

 

Happy Valentines Day!!

Tonight, my friends and I celebrated my dear friend Anna's birthday AND Valentines Day at our favorite restaurant in Oxford, Snack Bar. We were definitely that table on Valentines night with eleven girls making all the noise.  The rest of the restaurant was littered with couples so we may have stood out a little bit.

 I had the Rabbit au Vin with a side of Parmesan Truffle Fries. I think if I could eat there every day I would.

To top off the night, we had the double chocolate valentine cake.  I made the cake yesterday but it ended up taking forever because we were all watching the Bachelor and hating on Courtney the whole time.

But in the end the cake got finished and actually turned out OK! I didn't have a heart shaped cake pan like Rose but Elizabeth suggested just arranging the raspberries into a heart. Great idea!

 I think the cake was a hit.  Only one piece was left and when I got home, one of my roommate's boyfriend seriously ate the rest with his hands-- it was hilarious.  Then Liz and I got forks and licked the plate clean.  Yum.

Liz said that its in her top three favorites.

I think most people really liked the fact that raspberries are all over the cake.  I didn't realize how many people were such big fans of raspberries. And I also discovered from Catherine (who is an expert in the field) that raspberries have some incredible health benefits.

On the flip side, I did think that it was a bit dry in the middle.  To make the cake you have to poke holes all through it and then pour chocolate ganache into it so that it gains the extra moisture. The ganache was wonderful but I think that I didn't poke enough holes for it to seep through.  Better luck next time. 

To celebrate Valentines Day, here are little snapshots of the day:

This is Liz and her boyfriend Jared (who we all LOVE!). They made heart shaped ravioli (thanks to wonderful ideas on pinterest) this afternoon for their dinner:

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Then here are all of us girls at dinner:

Anna (birthday girl) and Katy.  I just realized that Catherine was sitting on the other side of Katy so she should have been in the picture too. I don't know how she skipped out on me.

Allie and me:

Liz, Elise, Marianna, and Betsy:

Elizabeth and Sarah:

And finally Elise's beautiful flower arrangement that she got from her sweet boyfriend Ryan (who we also LOVE!!).

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!