Heighten romance with chocolates

Make love sweeter this Valentine's Day Feb 14 by getting creative with chocolates.

"A very easy to make recipe for those you want to make a dash to meet their Valentine with something aphrodisiac. This is a never-fail-you recipe. The best part is that it allows you to be creative with shapes and designs," Abhishek Basu, executive chef, The Park, New Delhi, said in a statement.

Keeping it simple is the key.

Try chocolate-dipped fresh strawberries or rose petal-filled chocolates. Heart-shaped dark chocolate pastries are a good way to send across the message of love or a heart-shaped rum-and-raisin chocolate cake.

You can add walnuts, hazelnuts, raisins or anything special. And you can buy different moulds for different shapes and use chocolate transfer-sheets with different designs.

All you need to do is mix 100 grams of unsalted roasted nuts and 300 grams of melted dark compound chocolate. Drop onto wax paper and refrigerate until set.