Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love—and what better way to do so than with decadent, heartwarming desserts? Whether you’re planning a romantic dinner, a cozy night in, or simply indulging in something sweet, the right dessert can make the occasion unforgettable.
To help you create the perfect treat, we’ve curated a collection of irresistible dessert recipes personally approved by Richard Hirsch and his wife, Simone Hirsch, from their cookbook His and Hirsch’s. From classic chocolate delights to elegant, show-stopping confections, these recipes are sure to impress. Get ready to whip up something special and make this Valentine’s Day one to remember!
Chocaholic Chocolate Cake
This recipe is dark, moist, sublime, delicious, with a crunch. It offers everything you have
ever wanted in a chocolate cake for Valentine’s Day. It rises a little on the top during cooking; after turning it out, invert the cake, in order to frost a level surface. Serves 8 – 10.
250 ml boiling water
50 g cocoa powder (125 ml)
125 ml sunflower oil
100 g dark chocolate
125 g butter (125 ml)
3 large eggs
To decorate: Ice with Chocolate Ganache; 8 – 10 Romany Cream Biscuits
- Preheat oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/Gas mark 4.
- Grease and line base of 1 x 26 cm/ 2 x 20 cm spring-form cake pan/s with baking
paper. Grease the paper a second time. - Place boiling water, cocoa powder and sunflower oil into a jug; stir to mix well;
set aside to cool. - Melt chocolate and butter together on 100% power in the microwave oven, for
2 – 3 minutes. Set aside to cool. - Beat eggs and castor sugar together in an electric food mixer, until light and fluffy.
- Sift the cake flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Blend the cooled cocoa-powder mixture with the melted chocolate mixture. Add in
the buttermilk. - Add the sifted flour mixture alternately with the liquid mixture, into the egg mixture.
Take care to mix gently together; do not overbeat. - Pour mixture into prepared pan/s.
- Bake for 25 – 30 minutes for two pans, or 40 – 45 minutes for one pan, until firm in
the centre, and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 – 15 minutes,
before turning out. - Allow to cool completely on a cake-cooling rack.
- Place one layer onto a plate, top with chocolate ganache. Roughly break up or blitz
in a food chopper 4 – 5 Romany Cream biscuits; scatter over the ganache. Place
another layer on top. If using one layer, cut the layer in half, and proceed as for the
two-layer cake. - Frost top layer with more chocolate ganache icing, so that it drizzles slightly down
the sides of the cake; scatter the remaining broken Romany Cream biscuits evenly
over the top.
Chocolate Ganache
Silky smooth, decadent in taste; the ultimate topping for sheer indulgence.
600 ml cream
200 g dark chocolate
- Place cream in a wide-mouth pan, bring to boiling point. Do not boil: the cream should be ‘spitting’. Whisk well whilst the cream is coming to the boil.
- Remove from the heat; stir in dark chocolate, broken into pieces,
- Allow to stand for about 4 minutes, then mix to blend well. A small wire whisk works very well for this task.
- Allow to cool quite a while before using (too hot and it will run, and not cover the cake very well; too cold, and it will not spread to a smooth, glossy shine, which holds its shape).
- Pour evenly over surface of cake or cup cakes. A spatula helps to spread the ganache evenly over the top.
- Extra chocolate ganache may be frozen for another recipe.
Tips:
- Should you find the ganache very runny, either you did not cook the cream for long enough for it to ‘spit’; or the proportion of chocolate was incorrect. The mixture needs to cool down sufficiently to thicken.
- Note that the ganache will be lighter in colour when just made. As it cools or is poured over the cake, it will become darker as it sets.
Delicate Rose and Rosemary Shortbread
Love is in the air when you make these biscuits. Their delicate flavour is fantastic as a tea-time or after-dinner treat. They store really well; and make the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day!
Makes approximately 50 – 60 biscuits
170 ml spray-free rose petals, torn into small pieces
250 g butter, softened (250 ml)
100 g icing sugar (200 ml)
10 ml rose water
280 g cake flour (500 ml)
65 g cornflour (130 ml), or rice flour
20 ml finely chopped, fresh rosemary
- Carefully rinse and dry the rose petals.
- In the bowl of an electric food mixer cream the butter, icing sugar and rose water, until very light and fluffy.
- Sift in flour and cornflour or rice flour; add rose petals and rosemary. Stir until just combined.
- Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead gently, until the mixture just comes together.
- Using a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to roughly 1 cm thick.
- Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut desired shapes. Transfer to baking-paper-lined baking trays. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, if possible.
- Preheat oven to 160ºC/140ºC fan/Gas mark 3.
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until light golden. Be aware that the baking time will depend on the size and shape of your shortbread.
- Check regularly; once biscuits start to colour, remove from the oven.
- Cool on baking trays. Dust with extra icing sugar to serve.
- Store in an airtight container.
Variation:
- Use 30 ml lavender flowers, instead of the rosemary
Happy cooking this Valentines day, with love from Hirsch’s!
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