Valentine’s Day is almost here! While this day typically puts a good deal of stress on the guys back stateside… in Korea it is the girls who must go to great lengths to proclaim their affections. Since moving to Korea, my boyfriend and I have also been celebrating it this way. Valentine’s Day for him and White Day for me. To be honest, it’s kind of nice having a special day for each of us. That’s two separate days to shower each other with mushy romance and affection so sweet it gives all onlookers cavities.
Anyhow, Valentine’s day in Korea isn’t so much about making fancy dinner reservations or purchasing extravagant gifts, it’s actually about expressing your love in the “sweetest” way possible. Stores and outside vendors stalk their shelves with with arrangements of sweets and chocolates, wrapped and decorated in hearts, ribbons and sparkling gift wrapping. Cute little cards can also be purchased to help whisper your sweet nothings to your beloved.
Although gift options may be endless, the greatest and most coveted of all Valentine’s Day gifts is the Homemade Valentine. Only the “best girlfriends” make their gifts truly unique by making them with their own two hands. Of course this also to singles who want to make special gifts for their friends and family. For these overachievers, stores like Art Box, Kozney and even markets like Homeplus and Emart sell special ingredients, molds, toppings and gift wrap to create these lovely Valentines.
Last year I went a little overboard and made my boyfriend a box of cookies, a box of chocolate covered strawberries and a box of oreo truffles. It took him about two weeks to finish it all, but I may just go overboard and do it again this year (I’m hopeless). I know a lot of girls get really bummed out about this because they feel they can’t bake, so for those special ladies I’d like to share one of my favorite and easiest recipes. Usually I don’t share recipes because I’m greedy like that (LOL!), but I think everyone should be able to make something special for their loved ones if they want to. So here is my recipe for Strawberry Oreo Truffles.
Ingredients:
- 1 (16 ounce) package of Strawberry Oreo Cookies, divided
- (Regular Oreo’s taste just as good if you can’t find the strawberry ones.)
- 1 (8 ounce) package of Cream Cheese, softened
- 2 (8 ounce) packages of Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted
Directions:
- Crush 9 of the cookies into fine crumbs in a food processor and set aside.
- (Cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin.)
- Crush the remaining 36 cookies into fine crumbs and place in a medium bowl.
- Add cream cheese and mix until well blended.
- Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.
- Melt chocolate on low heat in a ceramic bowl.
- (You can get creative by using different flavors of chocolate. Last year I used white, milk and lavender chocolate.)
- Dip balls in chocolate and place on a wax paper-covered baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.
- (I like to also use festive sprinkles, chocolate deco pens and mango cookie crumbs)
- Refrigerate until firm (about 1 hour).
- Store leftover truffles in an airtight container and keep them refrigerated.
There you have it! It’s a little time consuming, but there are very few ways (if any) to messy these up. Hope you all found this helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment below. So until next time… have a very happy Valentine’s Day!
