Go big or go home! When it comes to sweets on Valentine’s Day, that’s pretty much my philosophy. Okay, it’s pretty much my philosophy on dessert in general but Valentine’s Day gives us a great excuse to break out the best in baking! These sweet treats are the perfect way to end a special dinner or make for an amazing gift for someone you love. Get creative, indulge, and create a memorable and delicious Valentine’s Day!

Here are my 10 picks for Sweet Treats on Valentine’s Day.

Enjoy!

xo

Country Cake with Berries

This stunner of a cake is brings the WOW factor to Valentine’s Day! Load this beauty up with clouds of whipped cream and tons of juicy, ripe red berries. For a dramatic reveal, dim the lights and dazzle your guests with a gorgeous cake topped with sparklers. 

 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting is always a hit! Whip up a batch of these lush red cupcakes and top with festive Valentine’s Day sprinkles or a combination of strawberries and raspberries.

 

Fruit and Herb Filled Ice Cubes

Make every element of your Valentine’s Day celebration feel special! Up your drink game on Valentine’s Day with these show stopping ice cubes loaded with fruit!

 

Cheesecakes in Mason Jars 

My mini cheesecakes are the perfect treat for your family, classroom party, or just to bake your way into someone’s heart. Top with shavings of a special chocolate, red berries, or a dollop of homemade whipped.

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies 

For a special treat on Valentine’s Day, add a sprinkle of fleur de sel to each ball of dough before you pop them in the oven. Present on a beautiful platter or fill glassine bags with a shiny red ribbon for a lovely gift.

 

Chocolate Dipped Fruit Cone

It’s a fact that Chocolate Dipped Cones make everything that goes into them taste better. Get creative with the chocolates and the sprinkles! I love the look of white chocolate with pink and/or red sprinkles! Load them up with bright red berries or your favorite ice cream for a memorable Valentine’s Day dessert.

 

Ice Cream Sandwiches with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough 

Go ahead, eat the dough! These Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches are made with real cookie dough! Fill with a festive ice cream of you choice (red velvet, strawberry, or even chocolate chocolate chip). When you are ready to serve and the sandwiches are good and frozen, have dishes of sprinkles or crushed cookies out on the table. Let guests roll their sandwich in the topping of their choice.

 

Monkey Bread Cupcakes 

These knock your socks off Monkey Bread Cupcakes are perfect for Valentine’s Day. Wrap each cupcake in cellophane with a gorgeous bow and a heartfelt card.

 

Chocolate Dipped Oreos

Now is the time to take advantage of all of those fun Valentine’s Day sprinkles I’m seeing in every baking aisle. Use heart shaped sprinkles or go with red and pink for a super cute and delicious cookie. Fill a glassine bag or present on a special tray.

 

Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches

I made these Ice Cream Sandwiches for the holidays and they were a huge hit. Fill with your favorite ice cream and fun roll sprinkles. Kid and grownup approved.

 

 

Pumpkin Roll Cake is pretty much everything you love about fall flavors in one sweet bite! This classic pumpkin cake is loaded with seasonal spices and filled with a simple cream cheese filling. Don’t be intimidated by the technique, it’s really manageable and the result is stunning. If you follow a few simple steps, you will end up with a beautiful cake roll that will pop off of any dessert buffet.

I’ve been making this cake all fall and it’s been a huge hit! The cake is truly beautiful with lovely little cream cheese swirls against that perfect pumpkin orange color. It’s really more impressive and delicious than it is labor intensive. Follow these easy steps and you will have a gorgeous, show piece of a cake for your Thanksgiving dessert buffet!

The first step is to prepare a jelly-roll pan. A jelly-roll pan is basically a smaller version of a sheet pan. I give my jelly-roll pan a light spray and then put parchment paper in the pan. I spray the pan because it helps the parchment paper adhere to the pan and not slide around when I’m pouring the cake batter into the pan. I then give the parchment paper a light spray so that the paper releases easily from the cake after baking.

Spread the batter evenly into the jelly-roll pan.

This cake comes together quickly! Mine baked for about 12 minutes. It’s finished when you touch the cake and it springs back. You can see where I tested this cake and it wasn’t ready. OOPS!

Work quickly at this point. You can see how easy the parchment paper makes it to lift the cake out of the pan. In addition, I run a knife between the parchment paper and the sides of the cake to begin the process of peeling off the parchment paper. Then I turn the cake onto a thin kitchen towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Once the cake is on the powdered sugar towel, very carefully (and slowly) peel the parchment paper off of the cake.

Here comes the fun part! Roll the cake from one narrow end to the other. Once cake is rolled in the towel, set it seam side down on a wire rack to cool. This gives the cake a little “muscle memory” and helps it keep it shape after it’s filled with that perfect cream cheese filling! Once the cake has cooled, unroll cake and spread cream cheese filling evenly on the cake and roll it back up. Always keep the seam side down. Place in refrigerator to set.

TA-DA! When you are ready to serve, dust with powdered sugar and slice with a serrated knife.

You can find a jelly-roll pan here.

You can find a serrated knife here.

Pro-tip: I use an off set spatula to spread things evenly. You can find an off-set spatula here.

 

 

My kids would tell you this is my “go to” cake when we are off to a friend’s house for dinner. This cake is easy to make, a showstopper of a dessert, and delicious. The bright white of the whipped cream against the vibrant colors of the berries is just beautiful. The cake itself is dense and moist. You get a slight hint of lemon zest and then it’s all about the perfect sweetness from the whipped cream and the berries.

I started making this cake from Ina Garten years ago. My son doesn’t eat chocolate and every time we went to a party, he was boxed out of dessert. After the main course, kids would excitedly run into the kitchen and take in the beautiful dessert table of cookies, cakes, and ice cream. Poor Jake would stare at the selections and do his best to mask his disappointment. It seemed like almost everything always had chocolate in it. Total bummer for my little guy.

I started looking for desserts that didn’t involve chocolate. We experimented with things like peanut butter, fruit, and caramel. There are a lot of great options, but this cake ended up being one of our favorites.

This recipe makes 2 8-inch round cakes. Stacking them is an impressive presentation with the layered whipped cream and colorful berries. If you only want to make one standard 8-inch round, simply half the recipe. Or, you can make the full recipe and use one cake, and wrap and freeze the other.

Enjoy!