Just in time to indulge your guests or sweetheart with a special treat, iloveinns.com announces the winners of its Most Romantic Recipe Contest. The innkeepers from bed and breakfasts and inns across the USA and Canada participated by submitting their most romantic recipes. The entries ranged from an assortment of breakfast dishes to exotic drinks to sweet desserts. It would be a lie to report that the judges found their work in taste testing the recipes to be anything but a purely pleasurable experience! The judging was based on taste, presentation and the overall romantic appeal of the dish.
Luscious Chocolate for Your Valentine
The Top Prize Winner for the Most Romantic Recipe goes to Chef Ray Wyatt at the Rivertown Inn Bed & Breakfast located in Stillwater, Minnesota for his Molten Chocolate Cake with Silky Cinnamon, Orange and White Chocolate Cream. Even before you take your first bite of this dessert, its name indicates what a sinfully rich treat it is. Picture a warm, gooey fudge oozing into a cool cloud of cream and then savor that first burst of rich chocolate blending with the subtly zesty orange & cinnamon laced cream on your taste buds. One of our taste testers simply stopped, it was so pleasurable, and we had to ask her if she was okay and slowly she “regained consciousness” to say, “that is soooooooo good!" On our panel of judges, Susan Egelseer, Innkeeper of Americus Garden Inn in Georgia, wrote that “the contrast of flavors, textures and temperatures along with the aromas of chocolate mingled with the fresh citrus was the perfect Valentine treat to share with someone special. “ Other comments were ”Fantastically decadent”, “A ‘to die for’ dessert”, “This is the best chocolate cake ever”. So if you cannot make it to Minnesota’s Rivertown Inn, here is the recipe so you can make any day a special romantic experience!
Ingredients:
For the cake:
11 ounces butter (2 3/4 sticks)
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate(62% is perfect), chopped
6 eggs
6 egg yolks
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
Truffle cream Ingredients:
20 fl.oz Good grade Heavy Whipping cream
12 1/2 oz/360 grams Good white chocolate-chopped if not chips
5 Cinnamon sticks
Zest of 2 oranges
Directions:
Equipment: 12 (8-ounce) Ramekins
To Make the Cakes: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Grease the ramekins and set aside.
In a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, yolks, and sugar until pale. Whisk the egg mixture into chocolate mixture; then fold in the flour.
Fill the ramekins with the batter and bake for 4 to 5 minutes. (Alternatively, refrigerate the cakes until ready to bake, up to a day in advance. If baking cold, do so for 5 to 6 minutes.)
Serve immediately with the truffle cream
Truffle cream Method:
Place the cream in a heavy pan and place over a medium heat, whilst the cream is heating, place the chocolate in a large bowl.
As soon as the cream has come to a boil, pour onto the chocolate and stir until all of the chocolate has melted. Add the zest and cinnamon sticks and stir in.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes and then cover and place in a refrigerator overnight.
When you are ready to serve the cream, remove the cinnamon and whisk the cream either by hand or by machine, be careful as this cream has a tendency to split.
Blushing Pears for Your Sweetheart
For a runner-up recipe that is romantic with a refined elegant taste and presentation the judges chose the recipe submitted by the Flery Manor in Grant’s Pass, Oregon, The Perfect Pear Blush in Crème Brule Sauce. These blushing pears are the focus of an original recipe created by Innkeeper Marla. The taste testers noted that the pears, having been poached in a fragrant mix including blackberries do take on a blushing red color and the swirls of Crème Brule added to the cooled pears before plating made for such a romantic presentation. This recipe proved it doesn’t always have to be chocolate to be considered romantic. The cool pears slipping down your throat mingled with the spicy cinnamon and the subtleness of the caramel drizzle are a sexy tasting pleasure worthy of any romantic occasion.
Romancing Chocolate
Keeping with the theme that chocolate and romance make an undeniably decadent and romantic pair, Innkeeper Carolyn at the Beazley House in Napa, California has been presented runner-up winner with her Sweetheart Chocolate Decadence Cake. Dominated by chocolate, from the cake to the icing, this dessert romances any chocoholic anytime of the year. The rich cocoa combined with unsweetened chocolate and buttermilk produce a moist rich cake that is then coated by a coffee-infused cocoa icing that has a beautiful shiny finish. Served with a bunch of red roses in the center of the Bundt Cake it makes for a very rich and romantic presentation.
Artistically Creative Romantic Recipes
Worthy of mention are the following recipes:
Our favorite romantic recipe name, ”When Chocolate met Raspberry”, is a sweet mousse created by Jan at Artist’s Inn & Gallery in Terre Hill, Pennsylvania.
The cleverly named Raspberry Love Potion #2-14 created by Innkeeper Sallie at the Holden House in Colorado Springs, Colorado provides a whimsically romantic alternative to champagne. And finally, the many romantic versions of French Toast were astounding, including a French Toast Soufflé from Traveler’s Rest in Montezuma, Georgia.
These are only a few of the many recipes you will find at www.iloveinns.com where innkeepers from bed and breakfasts across the USA and Canada share their favorites. If you don’t wish to do the cooking yourself, then browse through the 19,000 B&Bs and country inns where the innkeepers will pamper you and yours with their culinary skills. Most of the properties listed above are also in the best-selling bed and breakfast guidebook Bed & Breakfasts and Country Inns with a Buy-One-Night-Get-One-Night-Free Certificate. ILoveInns also offers Bed and Breakfast Gift Certificates, a perfect solution to help celebrate any occasion.
Rivertown Inn Stillwater MN
http://www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/minnesota/rivertown.htm
Recipe Link: http://www.iloveinns.com/recipes/molten-chocolate-cake-with-a-silky-cinnamon-orange-and-white-chocolate-cream_1243.htm
Flery Manor Grants Pass OR
http://www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/oregon/flerymanor.htm
Recipe Link: http://www.iloveinns.com/recipes/the-perfect-pear-blush-in-crme-brule-sauce_1236.htm
Beazley House Napa CA
http://www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/california/beazleyhouse.htm
Recipe Link: http://www.iloveinns.com/recipes/sweetheart-chocolate-decadence-cake_1235.htm
Artist’s Inn & Gallery in Pennsylvania
http://www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/pennsylvania/artistsgallery.htm
Recipe Link: http://www.iloveinns.com/recipes/when-chocolate-met-raspberry_1245.htm
Holden House Colorado Springs CO
http://www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/colorado/holdenhouse1902.htm
Recipe Link: http://www.iloveinns.com/recipes/raspberry-love-potion-2-14_1240.htm
Traveler’s Rest GA
http://www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/georgia/travelersrest.htm
Recipe Link: http://www.iloveinns.com/recipes/french-toast-souffle_1237.htm
Americus Inn Americus GA
http://www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/georgia/americusgarden.htm
About American Historic Inns and iLoveInns.com
American Historic Inns, Inc. (www.iloveinns.com), founded in 1981, is the leading publisher of bed & breakfast guidebooks, with more than 2.5 million bed & breakfast guidebooks sold, and runs iLoveInns.com, a top bed & breakfast and country inns directory.
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