Sweet Treats for Your Sweetie

February is here again and that means Valentine's Day. Merchant's has just what you need for the special day. Looking for something to give to your sweetie other than chocolate and flowers? Try a sure-thing and stay out of the doghouse.

2006 Tintero Sori' Gramella Moscato d' Asti
$14.99

This is a delightfully fresh and lively sweet white from the Piedmont region of northern Italy. It has a fresh perfumey nose with notes of citrus, tropical fruit, ripe peaches, and white flowers. Although it is sweet it isn't heavy or syrupy. This wine is made in the frizzante style, meaning that it is “half-sparkling”. This gently effervescent wine has a low 5% alcohol. Fantastic with fresh strawberries, meringue, peach melba, apple pie, or fruit trifles. Delicious!

Bonny Doon Framboise
$11.99/375ml

This amazing raspberry wine has graced our web site before. It has been a store and customer favorite for years. For some odd reason Bonny Doon has stopped making this wine. This may be your last opportunity to get this wine for Valentine's Day. There is still a little bit floating around, but it won't last forever. This insanely rich and decadent raspberry wine is stunning with dark chocolate and berry desserts.

www.bonnydoonvineyard.com

La Face Cachee de la Pomme Neige Ice Cider
$31.99/375ml

Looking for something truly unique? This is a delicious dessert wine from Quebec made out of frozen apples. It is rich and decadent with intense apple flavor. It is sweet, but offset by refreshing acidity from the McIntosh and Spartan apples. Fantastic with foie gras, apple pie, Tart Tatin, or even try it on waffles!

www.appleicewine.com

Rosenblum Cellars Desiree
$19.99/375ml

A very unique dessert wine from famed zin producer Kent Rosenblum! This is a sweet red wine that has been flavored with chocolate. It is lush and decadent with rich raspberry/cherry fruit, chocolate, and even a little coconut character. This is a real treat! Try it with chocolate-covered cherries, Schwarzwalderkirschtorte (Black Forest Torte), or with a flourless chocolate torte. Yum!

www.rosenblumcellars.com

2006 Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui
$21.99/750ml
$13.99/375ml
$5.99/187ml

This is a delightfully fruity sparkling red from the Piedmont region of northern Italy. It has vibrant notes of red cherry, strawberry, and raspberry. This would be perfect with chocolate-covered strawberries, a raspberry chocolate torte, strawberry pie, or your Valentine's chocolates.

www.castellobanfi.com

Sacchetto Brut Spumante Rose
$11.99

This is not a sweet wine, but it is a perfect dry rose sparkling wine to toast your partner with. It is fairly full-bodied with notes of raspberry, citrus, and subtle smoke and mineral. The beautiful rose color is perfect for Valentine's Day. Try it with oysters on the halfshell, grilled shrimp, jambalaya, or your favorite salty snack. A great value!

This just in…

The Ciccone wines are here! The wines of Leelanau Peninsula winemaker Silvio Ciccone are now available in Southeastern Michigan including the new Madonna series. (He's Madonna's dad.) Stop by and check out our ever-increasing Michigan wine selection!

Valentine's Treats

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 pound strawberries with stems (about 20), washed and dried very well

Put the semisweet and white chocolates into 2 separate heatproof medium bowls. Fill 2 medium saucepans with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat; set the bowls of chocolate over the water to melt. Stir until smooth. (Alternatively, melt the chocolates in a microwave at half power, for 1 minute, stir and then heat for another minute or until melted.)

Once the chocolates are melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set strawberries on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Dip a fork in the white chocolate and drizzle the white chocolate over the dipped strawberries.

Set the strawberries aside until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

Flourless Chocolate Torte with Almonds

10 ounces good imported bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar plus more for sprinkling
5 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup finely ground almonds (done in a food processor)
2 tablespoons kosher for passover cognac or dark rum
Whipped cream, optional
Fresh raspberries, optional

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and grease well a 9-inch springform pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over hot, not boiling water. When the chocolate is melted, turn off the heat and leave it over the hot water to cool slowly.

Meanwhile in a large bowl, beat the butter with 1/4 cup of the sugar until the mixture is fluffy and almost white. Add egg yolks and beat for 1 minute. Add the almonds and cognac and beat 2 minutes more.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until light and foamy while gradually adding the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Continue beating the whites until they are stiff and shiny.

Add the melted chocolate to the egg yolk mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until well combined. Fold in 1/4 of this chocolate mixture into the egg whites; then gradually fold the egg whites back into the rest of the chocolate mixture, taking care not to deflate the batter. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out covered with a thick, moist, not wet, and crumby coating. Allow cake to cool for 30 minutes in the pan.

Loosen the edges with a knife and carefully turn the cake out onto a plate. Remove the parchment paper. Sprinkle with the sugar. Serve at room temperature or chilled with whipped cream and raspberries on the side.

Black Forest Torte

For the cake:

5 eggs
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon bread flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon pastry flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon oil

For the syrup:

2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups water
4 teaspoons cherry brandy
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

For the cherry filling:

1 quart fresh cherries, pitted and halved
1 cup cherry brandy

For the Pastry Cream:

1 1/3 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup sugar, divided
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the whipped cream topping for frosting:

1 pint heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
Chocolate shavings for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

For the cake:

Heat a skillet full of water to a bare simmer. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, whip eggs on high speed for 5 minutes. To the eggs add sugar, salt and vanilla and combine. Set the bowl into the hot water bath to heat the mixture to between 110 and 120 degrees F. Stabilize the mixture by whipping on medium speed for 15 more minutes.

Meanwhile sift together the bread flour, the cocoa powder, and the pastry flour. Prepare the baking pans by greasing 2 (6-inch) diameter round pans and dusting with flour.

Gradually fold the sifted dry ingredients into the egg mixture by hand. Slowly pour in the oil while folding. Fill the pans approximately 2/3 full with the batter and place immediately in the oven. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. (The surface of the cake should spring back when touched.) Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then remove to wire racks to let cool completely.

For the syrup:

Combine the sugar, water, cherry brandy, and cream of tartar in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat stirring only until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is hot. Cover and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover and let cool.

For the cherry filling:

Place cherries in a small saucepot and add brandy, stirring to coat cherries. Heat over medium low heat until most of liquid evaporates, then remove from heat and let cool.

For the pastry cream:

Reserve 2 tablespoons of the milk then combine the rest of the milk with half the sugar and bring to a gentle boil. In a small bowl whisk the 2 tablespoons of reserved milk into the cornstarch to create a slurry. Add the other half of the sugar and then the eggs to the slurry and whisk to completely combine. Temper the egg mixture with the boiling milk. (This is done by spooning some of the milk into the egg mixture to equalize temperatures without cooking the eggs.) Return all liquids to the pot and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook for 1 minute. Remove the milk mixture from the heat and whisk in butter and vanilla extract. Pour into a large pan, put plastic wrap directly on the surface, and allow to cool.

Slice each of the cake rounds (horizontally) into 3 (1/2-inch) thick layers using a long thin knife or taut wire. Place the layers onto baking sheets (which have a rim) and pour cherry syrup over the layers, allowing them to soak.

For the cream topping:

Whip the heavy cream and sugar with an electric mixer to a medium peak.

Assemble the cakes by spreading a layer of the pastry cream on the bottom layer, then placing brandied cherries on top. Place a second layer on top of cherries and repeat. Top with final layer of cake. (Each cake will have 3 layers.) Frost top layer of cake with whipped cream topping and garnish with cherries and chocolate shavings.

Pan Roasted Oysters

1/4 cup clam broth or juice
1 tablespoon sweet butter
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
6 extra-select shucked oysters with juice
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 cups half-and-half
1 piece white toast
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 package oyster crackers

In the top part of a double boiler set over water boiling on high heat, combine clam juice, butter, celery salt, and Worcestershire sauce. Once butter melts, add the oysters and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add chili sauce and stir well. Add half-and-half and cook for a few minutes until the cream is hot and almost simmering, but not boiling.

Add a slice of white toast to a warm 9-inch soup bowl and underline with a slightly larger plate. Using a slotted spoon, transfer oysters over the toast in soup bowl. Pour soup over the oysters, filling to about 1/4-inch beneath the rim. Garnish with a dash of paprika and serve with oyster crackers.