Happy Friday! Valentine’s Day is coming up and I’m excited to share Mickey & Minnie’s Sweetheart Tea! Join Mickey & Minnie for a festive Valentine’s Day tea featuring polka dot shortbread thumbprints, chocolate raspberry linzer cookies, and white chocolate strawberry candies!
While Valentine’s Day is typically associated with romantic love, I prefer to think of it as a fun day to celebrate anyone you love– friends, family, and even yourself! So whether you enjoy this Sweetheart Tea with others or as a special treat for yourself, I hope you have a wonderful time!
Disclaimer: Links in this post are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn a very small amount from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!
For Mickey & Minnie’s Sweetheart Tea, I repurposed and adapted some of my previous recipes. For the shortbread thumbprints, I made Minnie’s Polka Dot Cookies, which are a twist on some of my favorite cookies from the Martin’s grocery store chain. For the icing color, I used just the red from the Ann Clark gel food coloring set.
The Chocolate Linzer Cookies are based on my Mickey Linzer Cookies, which are some of my favorite Christmas cookies. Usually I make them as a vanilla shortbread with white chocolate and raspberry filling; however this time they’re a chocolate shortbread with a dark chocolate and raspberry filling.
The White Chocolate Strawberry Candies are a new bake for me as I typically I make milk or dark chocolate candies. These are inspired by some of favorite Eton Mess chocolates from the British Chocolatier Hotel Chocolat.
Since some of these recipes already exist on my blog, I’m just including the recipes for the Chocolate Linzer Cookies and the White Chocolate Strawberry Candies in this post.
For the Chocolate Linzer Cookies, start by whisking together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Add the remaining half of the flour and mix until combined.
Roll the dough into a large ball and then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. Transfer the chilled dough to a floured surface and roll out to ⅛ – ¼ inch thickness. Cut out the cookies using a small to medium round or fluted round cookie cutter. Then, cut out a small heart in the center of half of the cookies. I used a Linzer Cookie Cutter set from Wilton.
Transfer the cut-out cookies to parchment paper lined baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Then, bake the cookies at 350 F for 12 minutes or until the edges are beginning to brown. Let cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies have cooled, melt the dark chocolate and use a small spatula to spread a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom cookies. Let the chocolate set while warming the jam so that it’s easy to spread. Using a small spatula, spread the jam on top of the white chocolate. Be careful not to overfill the cookies.
If desired, place the top cookies (with the cut out hearts) on a piece of parchment or wax paper. Using a fine mesh strainer, gently dust the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar. Carefully place the top cookies onto the bottom cookies.
Chocolate Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
Chocolate Cookies
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling
- ½ cup raspberry jam
- 2 ounces dark chocolate, cut into pieces
- Decoration
- powdered sugar, for dusting
Equipment
- 1 small to medium round or fluted round cookie cutter
- small heart shaped cookie cutter
- small fine mesh strainer
Instructions
Chocolate Cookies
-
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.
-
In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
-
Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Add the remaining half of the flour and mix until combined.
-
Roll the dough into a large ball and then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
-
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
-
Transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll out to ⅛ – ¼ inch thickness.
-
Cut out the cookies using a small to medium round or fluted round cookie cutter.
-
Cut out a small heart in the center of half of the cookies.
-
Transfer the cut-out cookies to the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
-
Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until the edges are beginning to brown. Let cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Filling
-
Once the cookies have cooled, melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler or in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave. Make sure to check and stir frequently.
-
Using a small spatula, spread a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom cookies (without the cut out heart).
-
Let the chocolate set while warming the jam in the microwave. The jam should be easy to spread but not liquid. If starting with room temperature jam, this step might not be necessary.
-
Using a small spatula, spread the jam on top of the white chocolate. Be careful not to overfill the cookies.
Assembly
-
Place the top cookies (with the cut out hearts) on a piece of parchment or wax paper. Using a fine mesh strainer, gently dust the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar.
-
Carefully place the top cookies onto the bottom cookies. These cookies are best enjoyed within a few days of being assembled.
For the White Chocolate Strawberry Candies, first decide if you’d like to use regular white chocolate or white chocolate melting wafers. If using regular white chocolate, you’ll need to temper it before making the candies. If using chocolate melting wafers you don’t need to.
For my candies, I used regular white chocolate and tempered it, though it is a bit of a process. I used a bag of Valrhona Ivorire, which had a lovely rich flavor. I also really like Ghirardelli White Chocolate melting wafers, if you decide to take that route!
Once the chocolate is melted, transfer it to piping bag so that you can easily fill the candy molds. For my candies, I used a heart shaped silicone mold from Michaels.
Pipe the white chocolate into the mold, making sure to cover all of the sides without fully filling the cavity. Let set until the chocolate has hardened (about 5 minutes). Then, pipe the strawberry jam into each of the heart cavities, making sure not to overfill them.
Pipe additional white chocolate over the jam to create a seal. Let the chocolate set until fully hardened (about 15 minutes). If needed, they can be placed in the refrigerator.
Gently remove the candies from the mold and pipe a small amount of white chocolate on the top. Sprinkle with the freeze dried strawberries. I used some from Trader Joe’s.
White Chocolate Strawberry Candies
Ingredients
White Chocolate Candies
- 8 oz white chocolate or white chocolate melting wafers
- ¼ cup seedless strawberry jam
- ¼ cup freeze dried strawberries, cut into small pieces
Equipment
- heart shaped silicone mold
- piping bags
Instructions
Tempering White Chocolate
-
If you’re using regular white chocolate, you’ll need to temper the white chocolate before making the candies. To do this, first chop the chocolate into pieces. Then, separate the chocolate into two heat safe bowls with ¾ of the chocolate in one bowl and ¼ of the chocolate in the other bowl.
-
Using a double boiler, melt the ¾ portion of chocolate, raising the temperature of the chocolate to 110 F. Use an instant read thermometer to check as you go.
-
Once the chocolate reaches 110 F, remove it from the heat and stir in the ¼ portion of the chocolate. Keep stirring until the chocolate cools to 87 F.
-
Transfer the chocolate to a piping bag.
-
Note: If you’re using white chocolate candy melts, you do not need to temper them. Just melt them as usual in a double boiler or microwave and transfer them to a piping bag.
Assembly
-
Pipe the white chocolate into a heart shaped candy mold, making sure to cover all of the sides without fully filling the cavity. Let set until the chocolate has hardened (about 5 minutes).
-
Place the strawberry jam into a piping bag and fill each of the heart cavities, making sure not to overfill them.
-
Pipe additional white chocolate over the jam to create a seal. Let the chocolate set until fully hardened (about 15 minutes). If needed, they can be placed in the refrigerator.
-
Gently remove the candies from the mold and pipe a small amount of white chocolate on the top. Sprinkle with the freeze dried strawberries.