A famous musical quartet once said, “All you need is love.”
When it comes to baking the perfect holiday treat for friends and family to enjoy (and admire your suave culinary prowess), all you need is love–love from your tools of the trade.
But before we delve bottom-layer deep into the tools, let’s first ice the surface with the desired end results.
Below we’ve got six Valentine’s Day-themed stand mixer recipes that’ll sweeten your loved ones’ hearts as much as their teeth.
Stand Mixer Recipes
Conversation Heart Cheesecakes
Who doesn’t love getting conversation heart candies on so-called Singles Awareness Day (except maybe singles who appreciate the gift of confectionery goodness much more than commentary on their relationship status)?
This recipe kicks the goodness up a notch. Instead of settling for those teeny little boxes of conversation hearts, you get to give the most delicious gift of super-sized conversation hearts.
How’s that for a slice of heaven?
Rather than their traditional material, these new, souped-up hearts are made of cheesecake.
You know what that means, right? You need to get that batter silky-smooth.
You can’t present your dear ones with lumpy cheesecake that looks less like cheesecake and more like a mountain range.
You need yourself a top-notch stand mixer for that.
Raspberry Lemon “I [Heart] You” Valentine’s Day Reveal Cake
Nothing says “I love you with everything in me” quite like a cake that literally says “I love you” on the inside.
If you’re aiming to transform the metaphorical into the literal, this raspberry lemon cake that reveals the words “I [heart] you” when you cut into it will suit your dreamy heart just right.
As with all pound cakes, the batter for this sugary proclamation of love is a bit on the thick side.
That means you’re going to need a rock crusher of a mixer to dress this cake to impress. You’ll note that the recipe specifically recommends using a stand mixer for that very reason.
Red Velvet Whoopie Pies
These little pies are aptly named because they make you jump and scream, “Whoopie!”, they’re so good.
The pies consist of cream cheese frosting sandwiched between two slides of red velvet. “Yum!” already, huh?
Well, hold your horses (or rather saliva), Mr. or Ms. Master Chef-In-The-Making. You know how you need to crawl before you can walk? You also need to tool before you can bake.
The batter for these sweet deals not only needs to be smooth, it needs to be fluffy too–fluffy like a cloud. Like cloud nine, which is where you’ll be sitting when your pies are done.
But to get to cloud nine, you need to beat your way there–and the receipe stated that a stand mixer is the tool you’ll need to do it.
M&M’s Strawberry Brownie Cookie Hearts
Brownies and M&Ms go together like peanut butter and jelly, like Mork and Mindy, like mastering the fine art of baking and using the best baker’s tools out there.
This recipe calls for the two to fulfill their destiny in the form of heart-shaped cookies.
But to fulfill that destiny, you’re going to need to do a lot of mixing.
Butter, cocoa powder, eggs, vanilla, sugar, salt–all of that needs to go into your cauldron of Valentine’s Day magic.
And all of it has to be mixed at separate times on separate speeds.
Hey, no one ever said fulfilling your destiny would be an easy task.
But with the right stand mixer, you’ll have a much easier time uniting the rhyme and reason of the universe.
Darkest Chocolate Cake With Red Wine Glaze
A pair perhaps even more appropriate for the Day of Sweetness-Induced Europhia, chocolate and wine come together in this delicious dessert.
You’ll notice that the recipe calls for a “mousse-like consistency.”
in order to blend this happy couple into that “mousse-like consistency,” you’ll need a stand mixer that can beat them as smooth as the finest marble surface.
You see a pattern emerging here?
Warm Fuzzy Cake Balls and Cupcakes
Here’s a treat for the critter lover in your circle of cherished ones: a little fuzzy creature perched atop a cupcake. As yummy as they are cute!
As you can tell from the mere concept alone, this recipe requires quite a bit of detail to give the illusion that there’s a cute critter gazing up at you from upon its stand of sugary sweetness.
The recipe says you can use a hand mixer or stand mixer (among other cooking and baking techniques) to blend the mixture.
However, to ensure you’ve got your ducks (well, critters) lined up, it’s best that you choose a stand mixer for this project.
Why a stand mixer over a hand mixer?
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with hand mixers. They have some strong points behind them, including space and price.
But stand mixers’ strong points are so much stronger.
It’s true they’re a little more expensive than their set-free counterpart, but they’re also known for being able to beat more difficult mixtures into silk. With these recipes, you’ll want silk, not lump.
Since stand mixers are more efficient at blending that type of mixture, their use extends past baking to cooking. You can use a stand mixer to beat chicken or make creamy homemade butter if you want.
Another strong point for stand mixers is they make less of a mess. While their sets keep the mixing bowl in place, hand mixers often splatter batter.
There’s also the time element.
Baking and cooking are long enough processes without having to stand for several mixing a thick batter.
With a stand mixer, you can just set your batter in the bowl, turn on the mixer, and walk away. Many stand mixers even have a timer to let you know when your batter’s done.
Again, you can settle for a hand mixer, but why settle for the mixer that does less and takes up more of your time when you can get a mixer that does more and frees up your time?
It’s a question to stew over while indulging one of these delicious recipes for Valentine’s Day.
Remember: “All you need is love.”