"Love me love me, say that you love me. Fool me fool me, go on and fool me". If The Cardigan's ode to being a fool for love was good enough for Romeo and Juliet, this dessert should be good enough for you and your date.
Raspberry fool. Source: Benito Martin
If you or your Valentine are looking for an indulgent-non-indulgent kind of dessert this is the cake for you. Buckwheat flour replaces wheat flour, and macadamia oil replaces butter, to make it gluten-free, dairy-free, and generally gym-friendly. A soft texture, sultry dose of spices, and plenty of raspberries keep it amorous.
Hazelnut and raspberry cake. Source: Murdoch Books
Just to show how confident you are in your relationship, you can serve a dessert that is a mess. And what a beautiful mess it is: strawberry sorbet, mascarpone, rosewater cream, sumac syrup, and pomegranate seeds.
Strawberry and rose mess. Source: Nopi
If a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down, then consider a spoon of these juicy cinnamon-and-clove-poached strawberries a medicine for lurrrve going down. You'll need to start this recipe a day ahead to allow the strawberries to soak for max plumpness.
Strawberry spoon sweet (gliko tou koutaliou me fraoula). Source: Chris Chen
This dessert brings together that old faithful romantic combo of chocolate and strawberries, but in a reimagined form. How you choose to serve the meringues is up to you - whole and dusted with cocoa and a side of cream and strawberries, or with the meringues broken up and layered in a bowl or glass with other ingredients. This makes the dish very forgiving (you're welcome!).
Chocolate meringues with vincotto strawberries. Source: Benito Martin
Because some like it hot.
Chocolate and chilli-sugar strawberries. Source: SBS Food
If you're really looking to impress this Valentine's Day (or even just test your cooking skills), try this elegant cannoli. Cannoli are sweet tubes of dough rolled thinly and fried, and these ones are filled with a heavenly light strawberry mousse. Aside from its tantalising flavours, this dish is about textures: crisp, airy, syrupy, silky.
Strawberry cannoli (cannoli alla fragola).
"This.. is.. no.. ordinary.." trifle. No ordinary love deserves no ordinary trifle, which is exactly what this one delivers: layers of dark chocolate cakey brownie, refreshing minted custard cream, and raspberries that are mixed with a little lemon and sugar to enhance their sweetness and juiciness.
Minted raspberry brownie trifles. Source: Alan Benson
Float amongst the clouds with this light and luscious dessert, which brings together buttercake, basil-infused custard, roasted strawberries and basil and lemon syrup. Some pink champagne or prosecco would not go astray. Repeat, would not go astray.
Strawberry, basil and lemon trifle. Source: Alan Benson
If your style is more old-school romantic, go for this classic combination of subtly sexy milk chocolate mousse topped with fresh raspberries. The mousse is infused with a bay leaf and vanilla bean to add that special je ne sais quoi.
Milk chocolate cream with raspberries. Source: Benito Martin
This is a simple dessert, but one with serious chemistry between the flavours and textures. The adorable pink raspberry ricotta cream is made by simmering raspberries and icing sugar, then blending the mixture with ricotta, cream and lemon zest until smooth.
Hazelnut meringues with raspberries and ricotta. Source: Benito Martin
Do more than cut the mustard with this sweet take on a brioche burger.
Cherry sorbet on brioche rolls. Source: Petrina Tinslay
The casing of this dessert is kind of like a sweet pizza dough, more chewy than a standard shortcrust, and the perfect home for a cherry compote explosion. The dough requires some resting time to give it the lightness it needs, so start it a few hours ahead of time.
Limburger cherry flan. Source: Alan Benson
Frangipane is the classic French tart filling of ground almonds, butter and flour. For this suped-up, Valentine’s-worthy version, melted dark chocolate is stirred into the filling mixture before being spooned into a cocoa-scented pastry case, and having cherries pressed lovingly into the top.
Chocolate frangipane and cherry tart. Source: China Squirrel
This fruity dessert is from the south of France - universally agreed to be one of the most romantic places on the planet. It's light, making it an ideal finish if you've eaten a heavier meal and want to skip the whole cake and pastry situation.
Cherry fruit salad with Languedoc brandy (salade de cerises au marc de Languedoc).
These cute little bites have all the romance of a box of chocolates - but more, because they're handcrafted by you! That's a lot of romance. Perfect for popping in your mouth (or your date's).
Cherry choc bites. Source: Martyna Angell
If you're feeling the heat this V-Day cool off with this boozy scarlet number, a blend of raspberries, ice, vodka and sugar syrup, topped up with sparkling wine (or champagne).
Raspberry vodka slushie. Source: Benito Martin
