Castle by the Cape: The Sweetest Brunch

We celebrated the morning of Valentines Day at home with a decadent brunch and fun Valentine exchange with friends!

Apples are one of Walters favorite fruits, so we paired it with a sweet dip as his Valentine treat for his friends. We created a caramel-apple Valentine by placing a gala apple and a jar of caramel dipping sauce into a cellophane treat bag. I used 4 oz mason jars to hold individual servings of the caramel.

Caramel Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
1 packed cup brown sugar
1/2 cup half-and-half (can use full fat coconut milk if DF)
4 tablespoons butter
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Mix the brown sugar, half-and-half, butter and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until it gets thicker. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat, cool slightly and pour the sauce into a jar (or individual sized jars). Refrigerate until cold.

I made "hot air balloon" baskets to hold each of the kids Valentines; they were so cute and fun to make! I found these baskets and balloons at the dollar store, and used paper straws and fabric I had in my craft bins (can be found at the craft store). I labeled each basket by name so the kids could deliver their Valentine, and then take their hot air balloon home to play with later.

Between us all, we had 9 kiddos and 9 hot air balloons to fill with love!

^^ Because it is Valentines Day, we chose to indulge and make these red-velvet pancakes with cream cheese glaze. The kids inhaled them... and so did the adults.

Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Glaze:

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups milk

2 Tbsp white vinegar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 Tbsp red food coloring

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup salted butter, melted

Cream Cheese Glaze:

6 oz cream cheese, softened

6 Tbsp butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside. Measure out milk into a liquid measuring cup and whisk in vinegar, allow mixture to rest for 2 minutes. Pour milk mixture into a separate large mixing bowl and add in sugar, eggs, red food coloring, vanilla and melted butter. Whisk mixture until well combine. While whisking, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combine. Heat and butter griddle to medium heat. Cook until bubbles begin to appear on the top surface of the pancakes then flip and cook opposite side until pancake is cooked through.
Cream Cheese Glaze:
In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on medium speed, blend together cream cheese and butter until well combine. Add in remaining ingredients and mix about 1 minute. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.