What is Valentine’s Day without a little bit of sugar? Check out this lineup of 21 delicious Valentine desserts that won’t break the bank.
Pictured: Triple Chocolate Sundaes
Are you ready for Valentine’s Day? It can be a pretty sweet day. Whether you have a sweetheart or not, I think it’s the perfect excuse to indulge in a little dessert.
Seriously. Dessert makes everything better. It’s true. It’s a law of nature. Don’t you think?
I’ll confess that we’ve never done anything really big for Valentine’s Day… except for the time when I was 6 months pregnant, a blizzard was coming, and we actually had a babysitter lined up. We still went out to Cheesecake Factory. No one else was there!
And you better believe it. We had some Chocolate Cheesecake.
But, now, rather than going out to celebrate. I bake my own:
Make your own Valentine Desserts.
While it’s nice to pick up a bakery or catering dessert when you’re pressed for time, when you make your own Valentine desserts…, well, it’s more special.
Cheaper, too!
I’ve got a huge delicious list of Valentine desserts to share with you, but first I want to offer these three tips for saving on Valentine’s food and goodies.
3 Ways to Save on Valentine’s Day
1. Consider celebrating on the 15th.
Yes, really. What difference does a day make? About 50%! You can easily cut your celebratory costs in half if you buy your flowers and candies a day after the holiday.
2. Shop your pantry and freezer.
I love a fancy celebratory meal just as the next person, and I’m really good at justifying the costs in my mind. But even so….
Check the cupboard and fridge before you head to the store for ingredients. There’s no use buying duplicates. And you just may find that you already have everything you need for a fantastic dinner or dessert!
3. Enough is as good as a feast
On holidays — and yes, Valentine’s Day is technically a holiday, sorta — it’s all too easy to justify big spending. But, seriously? You don’t need a lot to make an occasion special.
Light some candles, prepare a simple but special dinner, and choose one of these Good Cheap Sweets for a very nice Valentine celebration.
With those money-saving tips in mind, choose a Valentine dessert to prepare this year. It can be to share with anyone you love: spouse, partner, soul mate, best friend, child, or even co-workers.
Dessert can make a friend out of anyone.
21 Sweet Valentine Desserts
What is Valentine’s Day without a little bit of sugar? I mean, sweets for the sweeties, right? Check out this lineup of 21 delicious Valentine desserts.
What’s YOUR favorite Valentine dessert?
Stephanie M. says
Hi Jessica:
All of your desserts look wonderful. The one that struck me the most and I printed out the recipe was the Robert Redford layered dessert in a jar. But as suggested, I am going to make this in a baking dish. I don’t recall seeing the size jars you mentioned in my local craft store; only the larger ones. I only wish Robert Redford was years younger and could eat some with me. He He He 🙂
A nice dessert that comes to mind for Valentine’s Day is a parfait that I make sometimes.
Make 1 box of raspberry jello and pour equally into 4 wine glasses. Refrigerate till cold.
When cold, mix up 1 box (4 serving size) of chocolate mousse. I use Dr. Oetker’s. Divide that between each of the four glasses and top over jello. Refrigerate.
When ready to serve, top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
On Christmas, I substitute pistachio pudding for the mousse so it’s red and green.
Another Valentine’s snack I like to make are Linzer Tarts.
2 cups flour
2/3 cups cornstarch
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
Mix together in a small bowl, flour and cornstarch. Cream together in another bowl butter and confectioner’s sugar. Add egg and vanilla to the butter mixture. Then, gradually add the flour mixture. Roll flat 1-inch to 2-inch thick. Refrigerate overnight. Next day, the dough will be a little hard so work it till it softens up a little and roll to desired thickness. Press with a tart press, or a glass or for Valentine’s Day a heart shaped cookie cutter. With a small round hole maker, (I use an orange juicer), put a hole in the center of half of the cookies. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Do not overbrown. When removing from oven, put cookies on a cotton dishtowel or something that won’t leave fibers on the cookies. Let cool. Dust tops of cookies (the ones with the holes) with confectioner’s sugar and spread bottom halves with whatever jam you like; I usually make half raspberry and the other half I use Nutella. Then put cookies together and enjoy.