My Cold Cold Heart - Frozen Caramel Cream for Valentine's Day

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Valentine's Day is very low-key around here. Left to my own devices, I'd probably nod, blow a kiss to the wind and get on with my day. I'm not a Scrooge mind you. I dance at weddings and sing for birthdays, and the holidays, the big ones anyway, are celebrated in grand fashion around here. It's just that I have a problem with merchant holidays and this certainly is one of them. The thing that prevents me from uttering the famous "bah, humbug" is the memory of a 5 year old, still so small she's perched on a booster seat, cutting a ragged heart for her father as we sat around the table and talked about her day. She is special, this one. She's a talker and a thinker and she shares her words and thoughts in magpie fashion, confident that the world is always listening and needs to hear what she has to say. She's had a good day at school and as we work our way through who said what and the party and all the cards, she put the scissors down and stared at me with that unmistakable, the shoe is going to drop, look that all mothers come to recognize. Now, we've already covered babies and how they get here, so I'm fairly certain I'll be able to take what comes next in stride. I wasn't. My baby, who is five mind you, says to me, "You love me, but you are in love with daddy." World, have you met my daughter Erich Fromm? Now, I don't know where that came from, but it was a reminder that all we learn is not formally taught. Especially when it comes to relationships. At any rate, she quickly went back to her scissors, and I went on to make an ice cream heart that could never rival the one she was making for her father. The cake, by the way, is a wonderful way to give a nod to a special occasion without killing yourself in the process. It's made with three ingredients and involves no cooking, but it looks festive and can be modified to your family's taste. If you are a purist, you can make the ice cream and topping on your own, but it is really not necessary. The combination I've used for this post is one I found in Real Simple magazine and I chose it because it photographs better than my personal raspberry favorite. If you need a dessert for Valentine's Day, you might want to give this recipe a try. Here's how it is made.

Frozen Caramel Cream Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Real Simple

Ingredients:
3 quarts softened vanilla ice cream
1 cup caramel sauce
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

Directions:
1) Line a heart pan with with strips of plastic wrap long enough to extend over sides of pan and form handles for lifting.
2) Pack softened ice cream into pan and freeze over night.
3) Just before serving, lift ice cream from pan. Peel away plastic wrap and place on a serving dish. Top with caramel sauce and almonds. Serve immediately or return to freezer. Yield: 12 servings.

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