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Mary Anne here. This confection is dedicated to one of my true loves. Valentine’s Day is upon us – as is Feast on the Cheap’s second birthday – and so I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about both occasions. In my musings, I realized that while February 14th is usually equated with romance, it is – at least for me – also about all of the people in my life who have taught me the joy of limitless love.
At the risk of sounding sentimental, I’m using V-day and Feast’s birthday as a platform to shout out how incredibly proud I am of the woman my little tow-headed, squeaky-voiced, sometimes bossy Mariel has grown into. And how endlessly grateful I am to share our beloved blog, especially since it gives me plenty of quality time with my favorite girl!
While our readers know us as a mom-daughter duo, you might not know a few things about Mariel that make her so special to those whose lives she touches. While Mariel conducts herself with grace and dignity, she also has a ridiculously wicked sense of humor – her wit cracks like the riding crop often found in her hand! She is passionately loyal to her friends and family, and fiercely protective of animals, especially her two adorable pups – not to mention any of the horses she’s currently riding, training, or grooming. I know she’s going to come right behind me and edit the heck out of this piece, so I’d better wrap it up. This Valentine’s Day post and Feast’s birthday is dedicated to my partner in crime…um…cooking. Oh – one more thing about Mariel – I chose to create this confection because she LOVES ice cream almost as ardently as she dotes on her husband and their dogs.
The following recipe is a ridiculously easy Valentine’s Day dessert and the trimmings and toppings are limited only by your imagination. I didn’t have any fudge sauce in my pantry, but I did have cocoa powder so I mixed 2 parts cocoa to 1 part sugar, several drips of water ’til it reached the consistency of syrup, et voila: instant semi-sweet chocolate topping!
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Valentine’s Day Chocolate Ice Cream Cups
Makes 12 Cups
Ingredients:
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate – $2.29
2 pints ice cream – $6.00
½ cup unsweetened coconut, lightly toasted (optional)
chopped nuts (optional)
Grand Total Assuming Well-Stocked Pantry: $8.29
Total Per Cup: $0.70
Directions:
1. Line a muffin tin with 12 (cupcake) paper-baking cups.
2. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Don’t allow the water to touch the bottom of the chocolate pan. When the chocolate is just about melted, remove from the heat and stir until completely melted.
3. Using a regular teaspoon, swirl and paint the insides of the paper baking cups with the chocolate, covering the entire inner surface.
4. Set aside the remaining chocolate. Refrigerate the cups in the tin for about 30 minutes until set.
5. Using the remaining chocolate, reinforce the sides of the inner cups with another painting of the remaining chocolate. (I used a pastry brush for this part.) Refrigerate again until set.
6. Meanwhile, if using coconut, toast lightly in a dry skillet, stirring constantly. When the coconut just begins to show some golden color, remove from the heat and continue stirring until evenly golden. This happens very quickly and I’ve been known to toss a few cups of burnt coconut in the trash, so pay attention. It literally turns in a flash!
7. When the chocolate is hard, peel off the paper and fill with ice cream, custard or mousse. If using ice cream or custard, top with coconut, caramel or chocolate syrup, and walnuts if desired.
That simple? I can’t believe that something that beautiful is so simple! I’m watching my calories right now, but I’m saving this for another time.
What a great idea! Love it!
It’s that easy to make chocolate cups? Oh this is wicked, evil and fabulous!
just awesoem and just pefect for Valentine’s day!
Great bday present! 😉
Congratulations to you both for having created this wonderful website and for having stuck with it for two great years. I joined late, so I’m still making my way through the archives, but I just love the days that begin with an email from you and the inspiration to try something new in the kitchen. Tomorrow, for sure, I will be making these ice cream cups — I can’t wait.
Love and Happy Valentine’s Day.
Alice
Thanks so much, Alice. We love what we are doing and it’s notes such as yours that brighten our day! We’re very busy putting the links back in order in our older posts, so if you have any trouble navigating, just give us a shout. We should have all of our links back in place in the next day or so. The new site is a labor of love, but just like nearly anything laborious – so worth it. Love and Happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours! M & M
What a great idea! I’ll definitely be trying this one.
I’d take these for any occasion! Happy birthday and Valentine’s day!
Chocolate decadence! Yum, I wish my husband would make these for me tomorrow!
Happy 2nd Birthday and what a way to celebrate with a decadent and perfect treat.
🙂 Mandy
Happy V-day to you, Mandy! And thanks so much for the birthday wishes. Working on Feast on the Cheap with Mariel is like opening presents on a daily basis…always fun and lots of surprises!
These are gorgeous! The fact that they’re simple too boot just adds to the reasons why I need to make these sooner rather than later! Congrats on your 2nd anniversary and on your wonderful partner in cooking. You two have created quite the beautiful blog!
Thank you so much, Julie! We do love “blogging” together and are very excited about the next year of our adventure. Happy Valentine’s day to you and yours! Best, Mary Anne and Mariel
How do you stay so slim with all the wonderful dishes you make! This looks awesome.