A Romantic Dinner

I realize it’s been a while, but that’s only because I’m lame and have basically done nothing since Christmas. I didn’t exactly get off to a running start this year, what with spending the entire first week with the flu.

ANYWAY we did our Valentine’s Day stuff on Saturday, which was more amenable to our schedules and also traffic than Tuesday. Dinner was filet mignon with mushroom wine sauce, and chocolate raspberry trifles for dessert.

(Bf got a new camera. Can you tell?)

For the filet mignon, I followed this recipe, which is pretty good except the sauce could be thicker. Also, you should obviously prep the steaks first, not as step two.

The trifles were based on this recipe, but I made some changes. The original wanted me to make Red Velvet Raspberry Trifles, but red velvet is just chocolate with hella dye in it, and it’s disgusting. So I switched out the red velvet cake mix for chocolate cake mix, but then I decided it would be even more delicious with brownie mix instead.

Which was totally true, by the way. I also figured we’d actually eat whatever brownies didn’t get used, whereas the original recipe called for me to freeze the half a cake that wasn’t going to go into the trifles.

I also switched out the suggested fruity liqueurs for Irish cream. No chocolate shavings, alas, because they popped up in the last step without ever showing up in the ingredients list, which I used for shopping. So, you know. Oh, well.

It was magnificent anyway.

What You Need

• 1 package fudge brownie mix
• additional ingredients called for on the box
• chocolate shavings (optional)

(Boozy Berry Filling)

• 1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed and drained
• packed ½ cup fresh raspberries
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp Irish cream liqueur

(Cream Cheesy Sauce)

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp milk
• heavy cream as needed

(Whipped Cream)

• 1 cup whipping cream
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

What to Do

1. Make brownies according to package directions. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
2. Stir boozy berry filling ingredients together in a small bowl.
3. In a small pan, whip cream cheese sauce ingredients together on low heat. If the sauce thickens too much, add heavy cream a bit at a time to thin it out without overly diluting the flavor.
4. Vigorously whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla together on high speed until stiff peaks form.
5. Assemble in glasses in layers: brownies, berries, sauce, and whipped cream.

You can make a good bit of this ahead of time if you want to save on time and work on the night of your actual romantic evening. If you cut the brownies up when you make them, make sure to cover them tightly so they don’t dry out. Raspberries will disintegrate if you put too much stuff in them for too long, but you can do the sugar overnight and add the booze right before you layer the trifles. Whipped cream can be made ahead and put in the freezer until you need it.

The only thing I made ahead that didn’t quite work out was the cream cheese sauce, which never quite got as saucy as I wanted once I’d refrigerated it. But you can always make that together the night of your date for some kitchen togetherness. I dunno about you, but I think it’s really nice to cook together.

Enjoy!