Table for Two

Cotton Candy Cosmopolitan
Recipe Courtesy of Sugar Factory

Have a refreshing cocktail in hand while you prepare your meal. One part sweet and one part flirty, this Cotton Candy Cosmo is one way to give your love some sugar.

Ingredients:

-2 oz. cotton candy vodka
-0.5 oz. Triple Sec
-0.5 oz. cotton candy syrup
-1 oz. cranberry juice
-0.5 oz. lime juice
-1 oz. simple syrup
-Splash of soda
-Cotton candy and 1 raspberry candy

Directions:

Mix first seven ingredients in a shaker with ice. Rim the glass with crushed raspberry candy. Pour contents of shaker into a martini glass and garnish with a puff of cotton candy.

Oysters on the Half Shell with Florida Strawberry Relish and Vanilla-Stoli Mignonette
Recipe by Executive Chef Dagan Lynn, Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive

There’s only one way to start off a romantic meal – with oysters. Lynn says the trick is to source the freshest, highest-quality oysters you can find by asking your seafood supplier what their shellfish harvest location is as well as when the oysters were processed and shipped. His personal favorites are from the Pacific Northwest, Baron Point.

Ingredients:

For Strawberry Relish
-1/2 cup Florida strawberries (small dice)
-1 tablespoon cilantro
-1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
-Salt and pepper to taste

For Stoli-Vanilla Mignonette
-1/3 cup Stoli Vanilla
-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
-2 tablespoons shallot or sweet onion (chopped)
-1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
-1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
-1 vanilla bean (scrape the vanilla bean caviar from inside)
-Pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix together ingredients for the strawberry relish and set aside. Combine all ingredients for the mignonette and mix well together. To assemble, splash some of the mignonette on a cleanly shucked oyster (no shell with the muscle detached) and top it with the strawberry relish. Simple enhancement: Make ahead and store in the freezer before serving. The alcohol should prevent it from getting too hard.

READER RECIPE!

Chocolate Soufflé

End your meal on a sweet note with this decadent and indulgent dessert. This recipe yields four servings, but you can cut it in half for a dinner for two.

Ingredients:

-3 1-ounce squares bittersweet chocolate
-¼ cup, plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (divided)
-4 tablespoons milk
-2 egg yolks
-5 egg whites
-4 4-inch soufflé dishes, well buttered and dusted with sugar
-Powdered sugar
-Amaretto or Kahlua (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 300° F. In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Stir in ¼ cup sugar and milk. Beat until it is mixed well. Remove from heat. Allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes then add egg yolks, beating constantly. Whip egg whites until very stiff, adding 1 tablespoon of sugar halfway through mixing. Fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Pour batter evenly into prepared dishes. Bake 23 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Add Amaretto or Kahlua to center and serve.