Valentine's sweeties for your sweetie

It's still about a week till Valentine's Day but it always seems like a good idea to suggest recipes ahead of time so people can gather ingredients if they need to.

We don't buy stuff clutter crap tangible gifts for Valentine's Day but usually eat something a bit celebratory. Spending decades with your favourite person is worth celebrating! A quick survey in my house suggested a chocolate recipe would be appropriate, so here's a chocolate cheesecake guaranteed to bring a smile to your partner's face:

First, make the base

200 grams plain, sweet biscuits [I like to use Malt or Digestive biscuits]
100 grams butter

Crush the biscuits. Melt the butter and combine well with the crushed biscuits. Press the mixture onto the bottom of a foil-lined springform pan and chill.

Next, make the cheesy topping

250 grams cream cheese
100 grams caster sugar
150 grams chocolate [milk, dark or white]
300 ml pouring cream

Soften the cream cheese a little and beat well. Beat in the sugar. Melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water or in a microwave. Allow the chocolate to cool slightly, them combine with the cream cheese mixture. Whip the cream. Combine the chocolate and cream mixtures well, and pile on top of the base. Decorate with extra cream, grated chocolate, or fresh fruit. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

So yummy and so easy!

I'm still feeling rather delighted with our recent Japanese holiday, though, so here's a bonus recipe in case you'd like to try something more quirky. Green tea crème brûlée!

1 cup cream
1/4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of Japanese (matcha) green tea powder
4 (extra) tablespoons caster sugar

Place cream and green tea powder in saucepan and bring to boil. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Whisk egg yolks with sugar. Pour cream mixture into egg mixture and combine well. Pour into four ramekins, place them in a baking dish and add enough cold water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake at 160 degrees C for about one hour. Cool at room temperature. Refrigerate until cold. Sprinkle one tablespoon of caster sugar on to top of each custard and grill (or use blowtorch) to heat the sugar until it caramelises. Serve warm or cold.

I don't have a blowtorch – culinary or otherwise – but get

pretty good results by grilling the desserts for about five minutes

We spotted this ad on a Japanese train, surrounded by more
traditional (flowers and chocolates) Valentine's ads.
We interpreted it as 'if you love someone, feed them
broccoli'. Please comment if you know what it really means!