Welcome back, Geeky Gluttons, to another episode of Munchies & Minis!
For those just joining us, Munchies & Minis is a live Twitch cooking show where I make a tabletop RPG or Dungeons & Dragons-inspired snack and then paint a miniature. To kick the first season off, I decided to start @RaineRysa‘s #52WeeksofDnD fanart challenge. Far too long ago, we made some fruit and seed bannocks for the challenge word “Adventurer’s Kit.” The next challenge word was “Charisma.”
Sweetheart’s Confection
The player’s handbook defines Charisma as measuring “your ability to interact effectively with others. It includes such factors as confidence and eloquence, and it can represent a charming or commanding personality.” Players use their charisma stat for many skills, including persuasion, performance, deception — but ultimately using one’s emotional intelligence or empathy to connect with others. So once again, I consulted Power Score’s Great List of Food and Drink and found a pastry called “Sweetheart’s Confection.”
Sweetheart’s Confection, by definition, is “a heart-shaped fey confection that is split into two halves and shared between lovers before they part company for a time. They gain an emotional bond until they see each other again, sensing the other’s emotions.” I chose this as my dish for this episode because, like the charisma stat, it deals (this time literally) with being in tune with another’s emotions.
I started developing this dish by adapting my Dishonored-inspired apricot tartlets to encompass more ingredients that give you that whole “loving feeling.” Traditionally magic requires the use of symbolism. With that in mind, I used rosemary for fidelity in my pastry crust. Basil for love and pomegranate seeds for marriage went into my filling. And finally, I blended desire-inspiring peach jam and white wine in my glaze.
Sing for your Supper!
Due to some distractions (just returned from Mexico, Thanksgiving prep, and the death of a good friend), I did not get to highlight or export the video of my recipe for Sweetheart’s Confection before Twitch ate it. HOWEVER, you can find this recipe by just scrolling down.
If you hate scrolling and reloading, though, I do have a printable PDF recipe card available for my Ko-Fi and Patreon supporters.
This week both my blog post and Munchies & Minis recipe cards are available in exchange for a $2 donation on my Ko-fi page.
-OR-
If you join my Patreon community at the “Kitchen Twitch” ($5/month) level or higher, you will not only get access to ALL of my Munchies & Minis recipe cards. You’ll also get blog-post Spotify-playlists, community-polls, random digital and physical-swag surprises, AND a welcome gift of my Lord of the Rings recipe cards and playlists.
Not for the faint of sweethearts…
Sweetheart's Confection
Equipment: Eight 4.5-inch tartlet pans, food processor, plastic wrap, rolling pin, oven, stovetop, small saucepan, aluminum foil, baking spray, and pastry brush.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 sticks (1 cup) of cold butter, cubed
- 1/4 cup rosemary leaves
- ice water
- 3/4 cup room-temperature cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
- 4.4 oz pomegranate seeds
- 1/2 cup peach jam
- 1/2 cup sweet white wine
Instructions:
Make the Crust:
- Preheat the oven 400° F. Pour the flour, sugar, and rosemary leaves into the bowl of the food processor and blend. Then pulse in the butter until fully incorporated and resembles large breadcrumbs. Add ice water a teaspoon at a time and mix in until it comes together as a dough.
- Divide the dough into two disks and wrap them in plastic wrap. Chill for an hour in the refrigerator or until ready to roll and cut. While waiting for the dough to chill, use strips of tinfoil to sculpt the inner edge of each pan into a heart shape.
- Divide the dough into eight balls. Flatten each portion with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until it is a few inches larger than the tart pans.
- Spray each tart pan with baking spray, then manipulate and press the dough to fit each one. Don’t stretch the dough, or it will shrink during baking.
- Prick the bottom several times with a fork and bake the tarts 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool at least 5 minutes.
Make the Glaze:
- Pour the wine and jam into a small saucepan over low heat on the stovetop. Cook while constantly stirring until it melts.
- Remove the pan from heat and let cool as you assemble the tarts.
Assemble the Tarts
- Blend the cream cheese and basil in a separate dish. Then spread tablespoon and a half of this mixture evenly into the well of each tart.
- Distribute the pomegranate seeds among the tarts then coat the fruit with the glaze by using a pastry brush. Serve.
I hope that this recipe for Sweetheart’s Confection inspired you to start a culinary campaign of your own. Later this week, I’ll be hosting the Munchies & Minis Holiday Special featuring THREE recipes in one episode inspired by Faerunian winter holidays.
Make sure to join me live Wednesday on Twitch from 7 pm – 9 pm EST. OR you can catch the archived episode on YouTube.
