If food is the food of love....Valentine's treats you can eat.

Valentine's Day is a perfect occasion for cooks and food producers to really go to town and create some lovely products. The heart is a very easy shape to make and can be used to make a whole range of foods romantic and special. You don't have to spend a fortune, a few simple tricks and treats and you can have special Valentine's goodies for pennies.

It's easy to make a heart if you don't have one. Take some strong card - thicker than a cereal box is best - and cut a strip about 3cm tall. The length will decide how big your heart is, so experiment until you're happy with it. Fold your card in half and then fasten the open end together with tape.
 

If you want it bigger then fasten 2 pieces of card together and tape both ends. Then push one end inwards to make a heart that you can draw around or cut around. If you use food safe card (from inside a bread roll bag for example) you can even press out heart shapes from bread, pastry, fresh lasagne sheets or a multitude of other things.

Duerr's have released a special Aphrodisiac Jam for Valentine's Day this year - Strawberries and Champagne with a hint of Horny Goatweed, it's gorgeous, and lovely on a shaped sandwich or toast....
 

.....or pancakes with whipped cream for a very sweet and special Valentine's breakfast, lunch or evening supper. I'm not going to comment on the potency, but I'll tell you that the taste is great....

Heart-shaped moulds can be picked up really cheaply, we got ours free with a magazine that was £2 and chocolate is a definite win for Valentine's Day. We made it extra soppy by adding heart-shaped cake decorations. I bought a bag of thousands from ebay for less than £2.

The effect is one my assistant and I are very pleased with....

You can't mention Love Hearts without thinking of Swizzels Matlow sweets and this year there are a range of special releases for Valentine's Day. The embossed tin full of mini Love Hearts is my favourite, and they also have a selection of gifts that can be personalised on their website if you're quick! It's a great way to say "I love you" without breaking the bank.

If your loved one is unable to eat foods containing wheat or dairy, then another treat for them are these gluten and dairy free Shortbread Hearts from Orgran. We tried them at our bloggers night in last year. They're also vegetarian and despite being made without butter, the taste is gorgeous. They're a little hard for me, so perfect for dunking in a nice cup of coffee while you relax and let someone else tidy up after dinner....

 I hope you have a Happy Valentine's....

Duerr's Aphrodisiac Jam and Swizzels Matlow Love Hearts Valentine's special releases are available online or in supermarkets for a limited period. I was sent mine to review. I am a very lucky lady. I also hid the sweeties from my other half, so lets hope he doesn't read this....