Valentine's Day Recipes

Whether you're celebrating Valentine's Day with your beau or single with friends, here are two recipes to make the night a little sweeter.

COUPLE TIME: Chocolate Body Paint

Serves 2

Ingredients:

17.5 oz/490 grams high-quality dark chocolate (semi-sweet or bittersweet), chopped

13.5 oz/405 ml cream

1/2 bunch mint, finely chopped

1 chili pepper, finely chopped

Double shot espresso

Method:

1. Divide cream into 3 individual pans

2. Add mint into 1 pan, chili into the second pan, and espresso into the third pan

3. Slowly warm each pan to a near simmer and remove from heat, allowing flavor to infuse for 15 minutes.

4. Place dark chocolate in a small bowl and set over a small saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir constantly until chocolate melts.

5. Remove pan from the heat.

6. Divide chocolate into 3 small pots.

7. Return pans of cream to heat and, once hot, strain each pan of cream into 1 chocolate pot, creating 3 separate flavored-chocolate body paints.

Using 3 small brushes and your imagination, paint away!

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Chef Curtis Stone is the host of TV's hit show Take Home Chef. To enhance your kitchen experience, use products from Curtis's eponymous line of cooking solutions, available exclusively at Williams-Sonoma.

CELEBRATE SINGLEHOOD: Chocolate and Kahlúa Fondue

Serves 4

Ingredients:

500 ml double cream

400 g dark chocolate, very finely chopped

250 ml Kahlúa

Assorted fresh fruit and/or biscotti, to serve

Method:

1. Heat cream until it is almost but not quite simmering.

2. Once cream is near a simmer, very slowly pour it into bowl of chocolate whilst stirring constantly.

3. In a separate saucepan, heat Kahlúa to a near boil (be mindful that liquid may flame if becomes too hot).

4. Slowly add Kahlúa to chocolate liquid and serve warm with assorted fruit and biscuits.

To enhance your kitchen experience, use products from Curtis's eponymous line of cooking solutions, available exclusively at Williams-Sonoma.