Isn't It Romantic: Host a Valentine's Day Party

Want to bake something special for your guests? Allrecipes Supporting Member, Celeste, has an idea for you! Try her recipe for Sweetheart Cupcakes (pictured above): 

• Make Simple White Cake batter.
• Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full with white batter and set aside.
• Stir 2 drops of raspberry candy oil and 3 to 4 drops of red food coloring into the bowl of remaining batter.
• Pour 1/3 of pink batter into a resealable plastic bag and set aside.
• Mix more food coloring into the remaining batter until it is an orange/red color and pour the batter into a resealable plastic bag.
• Cut a corner off the bag of red batter, stick the open tip into the center of each cup of white batter and squeeze in about two tablespoons.
• Repeat previous step for pink batter, squeezing about 1 tablespoon of pink batter into the center of the red.
• Bake as directed in Simple White Cake recipe.

Celeste recommends icing cupcakes with Sturdy Whipped Cream Frosting, substituting almond extract for the vanilla.

• Set up an area where guests can create valentines and decorate white paper lunch bags for stashing love notes. Supply paper lace doilies, cupcake liners, colored papers, glue, double-sided tape, pipe cleaners, buttons, yarn, ribbons, scissors, envelopes, pens, pencils, stamps, inks, etc. (Hint: white and silver ink, pencil and crayon show up beautifully on red and dark pink paper.)
• Bake heart-shaped cookies in advance and let everyone get creative with candies and icing pens.
• Rent karaoke equipment and sing silly love songs.
• Play a game where you stack conversation hearts and award a prize for the highest candy tower left standing. Or guess the number of chocolate kisses in a glass jar, with the winner taking the spoils.
• For kids, give familiar playground games a Valentine's Day spin. "Simon Says" becomes "Cupid Says." "Red Light, Green Light" becomes "Loves Me, Loves Me Not." "Musical Chairs" becomes "Musical Hearts." An egg race becomes a valentine cupcake race with the confection perched on a spoon. (Hint: don't play this one in a room with carpeting!)

• A pretty bowl of punch makes for easy refreshments. Mix equal parts chilled cranberry juice, cherry juice and lemon-lime soda with a small amount of crushed ice and call the pink concoction Cupid's Love Potion. (If you wish, you could add a splash of vodka for adults.)
• For kids, pile miniature savory sandwiches onto serving platters and let the little sweeties help themselves. Valentine pizzas might win some hearts, too. And save room for traditional Valentine's Day treats like brownies, cupcakes and cookies.

• While the menu for adults can be more opulent, you still want to keep it simple. Start with beef tenderloin flavored with blue cheese and add some elegant but easy side dishes. Cook a whole loin for a crowd, or do individual filets if you're hosting a small group.
• Add two easy accompaniments to keep kitchen time to a minimum: make-ahead mashed potatoes and baked asparagus.
• Top off the evening with chocolate: either a dense, flourless chocolate cake that you prepare the day before, or a platter of homemade truffles.

More Romance?

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