Spread a Little Love.

Valentines Treat : Layered Cheesecake Bites, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

This post is aimed more at sending a little Valentines love your way than sharing a recipe. Truth be told, this silly little dessert was quite the disaster. . . . .

Valentines Treat : Layered Cheesecake Bites, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

You see, it all started out very promising. . . .

Valentines Treat : Layered Cheesecake Bites, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Cute even, no?

Valentines Treat : Layered Cheesecake Bites, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Maybe even a tad inspired?

Valentines Cheesecake Jello Bites, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Oh yes, it was all fine up until the Jello. I don't eat Jello. I don't make Jello. In fact, the last time I likely sat down with a bowl full of Jello in front of me was probably sometime in the early 90's. My grandmother, on incredibly rare occasion, perhaps when the hot summer heat got to her most, would stir up a batch of raspberry Jello to keep as a cold treat in the refrigerator. I don't really have anything against Jello, or at least I didn't, it's just not something that inspires me much. Yet for some quirky reason I decided I wanted to make a retro inspired dessert for a Valentines post here on the blog. Perhaps it was a little Grandma influence. The morning I made these I also cut pink blossom branches out of the yard, placed them in a giant vase, and hung tiny red paper hearts about it's boughs on my kitchen table. Something my grandmother did every valentines day.

Valentines Cheesecake Jello Bites, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

I was actually loving (unsure of how these might taste, but excited by how they looked) whipping these bites up. The little strawberry hearts? Swoon. Cream cheese filling. . . well, it doesn't get much better than that in my book. Oh, unless of course you're piping it on top of chocolate crumb crust. I was even basking in the smell, somewhat floral, of the raspberry jello as I stirred into a frenzy with my large wooden spoon. I was so pleased with myself as I began pouring the jello over the prepared, piped bites in my mini cheesecake pan. I should have known. Don't get excited until you are through with your project, because until you've completely finished, there is still room for error. Before I even realized what was happening my toes felt a bit wet. Oh yes. Out from beneath the drop bottom of the mini cheesecake pan the Jello began seeping, at lightening speed, like some sort of red sea. Red dye all over (and when I say all over, I mean it, all over) the counter, the floor, and my feet. Because I'd used a giant star tip which had not created enough of a filling barrier, and for whatever reason the crust didn't act enough like a barrier, there I was, in a great big giant red watery mess, shocked, sad, and a little peeved. My dessert, which had minutes before rendered me giddy like a child was now my worst nightmare. And incredibly sticky. Somehow I managed with the blade of a butter knife to fix enough of the edges, and re-pour the leftover Jello back into the moulds that half of the pan came out looking okay. But, only okay. They aren't the magnificently adorable treats i was hoping for. Low and behold, Jello is also a trickster to photograph. It's quite reflective you know. Making it an utterly horrid shiny surface for my little lens to capture. All in all it was an adventure. If I want to be cheesey here, I could say that love is also a bit of an adventure. Sometimes it makes you giddy, sometimes it makes you sad, and sometimes is can be messy.

Valentines Cheesecake Jello Bites, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.
All in all it was an adventure. If I may be cheesey here for a moment I could say that love is also a bit of an adventure. Sometimes it makes you giddy, sometimes it makes you sad, and sometimes is can be messy, but, in the end, it's always worth it. A lot like these silly little Jello bites.

Valentines Treat : Layered Cheesecake Bites, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.