Warm the heart with a sweet treat

As Valentine’s Day inches nearer, many are looking for a sweet treat that will complement the perfect dinner party and bring out the spirit of this  day of love.”

Incorporating raspberries into your menu not only adds a little nutrition to the year’s sweetest holiday, raspberries are considered a “heart healthy” fruit that lowers cholesterol; but they can be easily obtained and eaten year-round. Seek out frozen raspberries in your local store for a quick and easy way to obtain the same wholesome benefits fresh raspberries offer.

Red Raspberry Cream Puffs
10 servings

Ingredients
Puff Mixture:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into half-inch pieces
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
Cream Puff Filling:
2 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
Raspberry Filling:
2 (10 oz.) packages frozen red raspberries, thawed
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring butter, sugar, salt and 1 cup of water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in flour, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for three minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time to the butter mixture, beating after each egg until smooth. Drop dough into 10 mounds, three inches apart on baking sheet, or spoon dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe into rosettes on the baking sheet lined with wax paper Baked for 30 minutes, and cool on a wire rack..

Whip cream and sugar until stiff peaks form, and fold in almond extract. Arrange one bag of red raspberries in a single layer on paper towels to defrost. In a saucepan, heat one package of red raspberries and sugar until sugar is dissolved and berries are soft. Place cornstarch in a small bowl. Remove a few spoonfuls of raspberry mixture, and add to cornstarch and mix together until smooth. Add cornstarch mix back into saucepan, cook and stir on medium-low heat until thickened. Once cool, stir in reserved red raspberries.

Spoon in 3-4 tablespoons of red raspberries on a cream puff shell. Pipe whipped cream filling on top of raspberries using a pastry bag. Top with remaining portion of cream puff shell, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.