Here are a few Valentine’s Day recipes from Mazola and Bake Good to help you celebrate this romantic holiday.

For those who are looking to kick the day off on a lovely note, try Mazola’s French Toast – made with any sturdy white bread and served with Corn Syrup, it’s a classic pairing!

1. Beat eggs slightly in a large bowl. Add corn syrup, salt and milk; blend well. 2. Preheat griddle OR large skillet, adding oil if needed. Dip bread, one slice at a time into batter, turning to coat. 

3. Place bread on hot griddle for 2 to 3 minutes until well browned. Turn and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. 

4. Serve immediately with warm syrup.

If craving something a little more elaborate, then perhaps Bake Good’s Dipped Croissants will do the trick – perfect for a mix of sweet & salty for the expert baker looking to try something new!

If craving something a little more elaborate, then perhaps Bake Good’s Dipped Croissants will do the trick – perfect for a mix of sweet & salty for the expert baker looking to try something new!

1. Mix the water and milk together, warm to 100°-110°F. Pour ¼ cup into a small bowl and dissolve the yeast, leave to stand for 5 minutes or until foamy. 

2. In a large bowl blend together flour and ¼ cup of the butter using a fork, pastry blender, or a food processor on a dough setting. Blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and salt. 

3. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast and the remaining milk and water. Mix well to form a dough, knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, about 6 minutes. Return to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; these will be needed for the chilling steps of the dough. 

4. Place the remaining butter between 2 sheets of wax or parchment paper and flatten with a rolling pin until it is a level and approximately 7″ x 7″ square, chill until ready to use. Turn dough out onto the lightly floured surface, roll into a 10″ x 10″ square. 

5. Place the flattened square of butter on top of the dough, rotated to a diamond shape (corners of butter point to straight sides of dough), fold the exposed corners of the dough over the butter to meet the middle like an envelope, gently pinching the edges together. Be careful to not overlap the dough, just meet the edges together. Chill for 20 minutes. 

6. Start rolling the dough from the middle outwards, creating a rectangle 24” long by 10” wide. Try to keep the sides and corners straight and square. Fold into thirds, brush off excess flour as you go, bring the left third on top of the middle third, then fold the right third over the stack, you are left with a 10” x 8” rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes. Rotate rectangle horizontally and roll out to 24” x 10” and folding into thirds again, chill another 20 minutes. Next roll the rectangle to 24” x 16”, cut the long side of the dough in half, so you have two 12” x 16” pieces, place one on top of the other, aligning the cut edges, cover in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

7. Roll to 20” x 12”, cut in half lengthwise so you have two pieces 20” long x 6” wide, cover and chill for another 10 minutes. Starting with the first piece, roll the dough out 30” long by 8” wide. Make triangles using a ruler, measure out 5” increments down long edge, cutting a small slit at each interval. Along the opposite side do the same, starting the notches in the middle of the other marks so you create a “point” to your triangle. Using a pizza cutter, connect all the marks so you are left with 11 triangles, plus two halves, which you can press together to make another triangle, 12 in total. One at a time, roll up each triangle tightly from base to tip, brushing off any excess flour as you go. Place on baking sheet in 3 rows of 4 evenly spaced, tips tucked underneath, allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, or about one hour. Repeat process for second piece of dough. 

8. Preheat oven to 350°F or convection bake at 325°F. In a small bowl beat egg with a pinch of salt, brush croissants with egg wash and bake for 20-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. 

9. Melt one package of pink candy melts (follow instructions on the package) 10. Roughly chop 1 cup of pistachios and set aside 

11. Roughly crumble 1 cup of freeze dried raspberries and set aside. 

12. Dip one half of the croissant into the candy melt and place on a wire rack. Immediately sprinkle with pistachios or raspberries and gently press into the wet candy melt. Repeat for the remaining croissants. Let the candy melt set before serving, approximately 15 minutes. 

Butter must always remain cold when working with the dough, if it gets too soft chill dough in fridge until firm again, up to one hour, if needed. Be careful not to roll your dough so thin that the butter seeps through, try adding a bit of flour if this happens to prevent sticking when rolling. Try to use as little flour as possible when rolling so your dough doesn’t turn out dry. 

Freeze-Shaped Croissants For Later Use

Once you have rolled your croissants you can freeze them immediately by placing on a tray in the freezer until solid, once frozen store in freezer bag for up to two months. When ready to bake remove from freezer, thaw in refrigerator overnight on a parchment-lined baking sheet, covered loosely with plastic wrap. In the morning allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size before baking. Brush with egg wash and bake as directed in recipe.

If you’re looking for a fun date idea, bake these Sugar Cookie Hearts from Bake Good, in advance and then spend your day decorating together, designing something sweet for your sweetie!

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (170˚C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Sift together flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt; set aside. 2. In bowl of stand mixer, beat sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg, lemon zest and vanilla. Mix in flour mixture in 2 additions. Divide dough into 2 portions and shape into disks; wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or up to 2 days. 

3. On lightly floured work surface, roll out dough into 1/4-inch (5 mm) thickness. Using 3-inch (8 cm) heart cutter, cut out 24 hearts, rerolling scraps once. Place on prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Refrigerate cookies for 10 minutes. 

4. Bake one sheet at a time in center of oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies are lightly golden and tops are set. Let cool completely on rack. 

1. Place icing sugar in large mixing bowl. On low speed, gradually beat in 2 tbsp. (30 mL) water until blended. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until smooth (if icing is too thick, add enough of the remaining water, 1 tsp/5 mL at a time).

2. Divide icing evenly among 3 bowls. Add pink food colouring to one bowl and red food colouring to another bowl. Leave the third bowl as is. 

3. Add pink, red and white icing to piping bag fitted with small round tip. Pipe edges of cookies with desired icing colour; fill center of cookies with desired icing colour. Decorate with assorted sprinkles, dragées and/or sanding sugar. 

Tip: Alternatively, instead of icing cookies, simply sprinkle with sugar before baking.

You can also try making these Jam Filled Cookies, courtesy of Bake Good, to hand out to your Galentine’s and Palentine’s!

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream butter & sugar until fluffy. 

2. Add the egg & vanilla extract. Beat until combined. 

3. Sift in the flours, baking powder, salt, orange zest & nutmeg. Beat until dough comes together. 

4. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap & refrigerate until firm. Once dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350(f) degrees & line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. 

6. Using your favourite cookie cutter shape, cut out dough & place 1/2 inch apart on the baking tray. Using an extra small cookie cutter, cut out a hole in half of the cookies.

7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden around the edges. 

8. Let cool before filling with jam & dusting with powdered sugar.

If finding enough time to celebrate Valentine’s Day is not an issue then Mazola’s Chocolate Caramel Valentine’s Day Cake is a must for expert bakers!

Made with cocoa powder, coffee, and vanilla extra, it’s the petit plaisir for a night out or night in for newly official or longly-tenured couples!

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 

2. Grease and flour two 9-inch or three 7-inch cake pans; set aside. 

3. Combine cocoa and coffee in a small bowl, stirring until cocoa is dissolved; set aside. 4. Stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a mixer bowl until combined. 

5. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and buttermilk together in a separate large bowl until well mixed; add to flour mixture. 

6. Beat on medium-low speed until blended, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. 

7. Beat for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth. 

8. With the mixer running on low speed, stream in the coffee mixture until combined. 9. Pour batter evenly into pans. 

10. Bake for 23 to 26 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. 11. Let cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before removing cakes from pans. 12. Let cakes cool completely, approximately 1 hour. 

1. Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in small saucepan. 

2. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. 

3. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until mixture turns to an amber colour, about 10 minutes. 

4. Remove from heat; carefully stir in cream. (Mixture may bubble up a bit.) 

5. Whisk in butter until it is melted. 

6. Stir in salt and vanilla extract. 

7. Note: If sauce is too thick after adding cream and butter, heat over low heat until smooth, stirring occasionally. 

8. Transfer sauce to a microwave-safe container. 

9. Chill until cool and thickened. 

1. Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until hot; remove from heat. 2. Whisk egg yolks together in a medium mixing bowl. 

3. Stir in sugar and cornstarch. 

4. Slowly pour about half of hot milk into egg yolk mixture; whisking constantly until blended. 

5. Pour remaining milk into egg yolk mixture; whisk until smooth. 

6. Pour milk mixture back into saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. 

7. Remove from heat; strain mixture into a clean bowl; stir in butter and vanilla. 8. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard. 

9. Refrigerate until cool and thick. 

10. Once chilled, stir in 1/4 cup Caramel Sauce; return to refrigerator until ready to use.

Game Day Snacks Courtesy of Mazola and BakeGood

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