Valentine's Day is quite close. Certain people like it but others hate it. Red hearts, sweet teddy bears and tons of Valentine's Day sweets pour out from every shop front. Merchants try to convince us that everything could be a Valentine's Day gift; it just needs to have a heart stuck onto it. This could make the day a turn-off for even the most in love. However, if we were to treat it as an excuse for spending a pleasant day together and preparing a tasty candlelit dinner, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Opponents of Valentine's Day could say that we can do the same every day, and they are right. But if every day, why not on 14th February?

Today I would like to share with you a recipe for an easy but excellent dessert for two. The light sweet mousse from white chocolate goes well with cherry confiture. You may use a different one, but I recommend something that is not so sweet, because even on Valentine's Day too many sweets could be harmful.

Ingredients:
150ml of 30% sweet cream
100g of white chocolate
4 teaspoons of cherry confiture
fruit and peppermint leaves

Quick orange cake is an ideal proposal when you want your home to smell nice and warm and you don't have enough time for sophisticated shopping and for long preparation. Needless to say, nobody needs to know how easy it is to make this cake. Let it be your secret and take advantage of the saved time as you like.

Sweet-and-sour icing from caster sugar and citrus fruit juice is an excellent addition to the orange cake.

Ingredients:
Cake:
370g of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
a pinch of salt
3 eggs
200g of sugar
125ml of oil
125ml of orange juice
orange peel grated from one orange

Today I have another idea for a dish which you can prepare in your own way. You can fill stuffed baked apples with the ingredients you have in the kitchen or with whatever you like. These apples may be a dessert, but you should remember that regardless of filling it isn't a small dish. It is best to serve it after a less copious dinner or as afternoon tea. Otherwise the overfed feaster will not appreciate the taste of your dish.

Ingredients:

4 apples

1 fistful of raisins

5 dried apricots

1 fistful of walnuts

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of honey

half a teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of butter

Do you remember the time when cocoa was a rarity and in our childhood mugs we most often had caffeine-free corn coffee, Inka coffee or tea with sugar and milk (in Poland called "bawarka"). I still like all of these drinks. My brother didn't drink corn coffee, and "bawarka" and Inka coffee were a kind of punishment for him. My children don't like Inka coffee either. I don't dare give them "bawarka", but I drink it sometimes .

Recently, quite coincidentally, I found on the internet a website about Inka coffee. It turns out that I can make a few interesting and tasty drinks. Most of them I would rather combine with desserts. As well as fruit, my children got one of them for dessert. The combination of two kinds of chocolate, Inka coffee and whipped cream was excellent.

Ingredients (for two people):

5 pieces of dark chocolate

5 pieces of white chocolate

200 ml of milk

4 teaspoons of Inka coffee

150ml of 30% sweet cream

1 teaspoon of caster sugar

2 tablespoons of chocolate glaze

A carrot cake with cinnamon resembling a Christmas ginger cake appeared in my home a few years ago and I have made it regularly since. Every time it is excellent: sweet-smelling, moist, slightly nutty, with a hint of chocolate. I know that this cake is often decorated with lemon glaze.

Most of all I like a chocolate and nut combination. The quantity of the ingredients is easy to remember. You need two of almost everything (except for eggs and oil). Recently I found that this portion is too big for me, so I made an "at once" cake, taking into consideration the amount of ingredients as well as the speed at which it disappears from the plate. In the ingredients of this cake you will only find amounts, because if you keep everything in proportion and use a cup as a measuring jug for the carrot and flour, the cake will be perfect.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 cup of oil

2 cups of flour

2 cups of grated carrot

2 cups of sugar

2 teaspoons of cinnammon

2 teaspoons of baking soda

2 teaspoons of baking powder

walnuts, raisins

chocolate icing