MEGAN LEARNS TO COOK: VALENTINE'S EDITION

I absolutely adore Valentine’s Day! I love the silly cards, all the hearts, and — of course — the pink and red, so I thought it would be fun to host a little V-Day dinner to celebrate my friends and loved ones!

I decorated the table with pink plates, heart plates, and red candles wrapped pretty with a bow on its holder. Cooper made us homemade meatballs and spaghetti (it was sooo good), and I attempted a few new recipes! So let’s get into what I made this time.

Blood Orange and Cardamom Cake

For the cake, I used this blood orange cardamom cake recipe from Sweet and Simple Kitchen! It was super straightforward and easy to follow! I did make a few changes because I knew I wanted the cake to be heart-shaped. I used two 6-inch heart-shaped cake pans and checked them around the 35-minute mark. They took closer to 45 minutes, in the end, to fully bake in my oven at the same temperature the recipe asks for, but you can always do a toothpick check and make sure it comes out clean after you stick it in the cake. I knew I wanted to do a buttercream icing instead of a glaze (although it looks delicious), and this is what I ended up doing!

Blood Orange Buttercream Frosting

• 1 cup of butter (softened)

• 2 cups of powdered sugar

• 1/2 tablespoon of blood orange zest

• 1-2 tablespoons of blood orange juice

  I tsp of vanilla

I added a little bit of pink food coloring just to boost what the blood orange was already doing to the color and it truly made for the perfect pink! On another note, a little goes a long way with the cardamom, so I did the middle ground of the range the recipe suggested. I did a crumb coat after the cake had cooled before doing the final layer and used a scraper to smooth it all out. Overall, I was happy with my presentation. It’s a journey, but I think a few more tools (like a table that turns) will help me in my cake presentation.

A Perfectly PInk Cocktail

I wanted to continue the theme of pink, so we went with another blood orange treat! This made such a delicious and perfectly pink cocktail!

Blood Orange Sour

• 2 oz of gin

• 0.5 oz of lemon juice

• 0.75 oz of simple

• 1 oz blood orange juice

• Egg white

Shake dry, add ice, and serve with a dried blood orange on top! I dried some slices in the air fryer, but you can also use your oven!

There are still so many things I want to try! I think over this Megan Learns to Cook journey I’ve realized I find more joy in baking sweet things than cooking! And more than anything, I love a good excuse to host a themed get-together with people I love!