On this Valentine’s Day, we honour all forms of love. From the romance of first encounters accompanied by silky chocolate to the golden delight of love in our families and perhaps to the most valuable love of all is love for oneself.

For the award-winning TV chef, cookbook author, marvellous mom and wonderful wife – Grace Stevens – creating delicious treats to share on Valentine’s Day offers an opportunity to play with how we express our love for those around us.

Here are her top scrumptious suggestions for this Valentine’s Day.

Chocolate Oreo Muffins

Ingredients:
120g room temperature butter
1 cup castor sugar
2 large eggs
10ml baking powder
2ml salt
440ml cake flour
60ml cocoa powder
125ml milk
50g dark chocolate chips
1 packet of chopped Oreos
30ml lemon juice
½ packet of chopped Oreos for the top of muffins

Method:
1. Heat oven to 180°C.
2. Grease 12 muffin cups
3. Sift flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking powder
4. Add lemon juice to milk (it will curdle, this is fine)
5. In an electric mixer, whisk butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy.
6. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.
7. With a spoon, fold in half of the dry ingredients and half of the milk into batter; repeat.
8. Fold in Oreos and chocolate chips
9. Spoon into muffin cups.
10. Top with Oreo crumbs.
11. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown
12. Remove muffins from the pans and place them onto a cooling rack

Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients:
10 cups of popped popcorn (two microwave bags is perfect)
210ml castor sugar
15ml golden syrup
110g butter
3ml salt
2ml vanilla paste
3ml bicarb

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180ºC
2. In a saucepan, place butter, sugar and syrup. Place on a medium heat and stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. Allow to come to the boil and boil for about 4 minutes, or until a sugar thermometre reads 124ºC
4. Remove from the heat and stir in salt, bicarb and vanilla paste
5. Pour caramel over popcorn and stir to cover thoroughly
6. Pour popcorn out onto a greased baking tray and bake for 8 minutes

Mocha Coffee French Crullers

Crullers
265 ml Milk
265 ml Water
120 ml Butter
15 ml Caster sugar
310 ml Flour
3 Eggs

Glaze
375 ml Icing sugar
30 ml Cocoa
15 ml Espresso
30 ml Milk

Crullers
1. Cut 20 squares of baking paper and place onto a baking sheet. Trace a heart onto each paper. Turn the paper over so the tracing is on the back of the paper when you place it back onto the baking sheet.
2. Place a French piping tip into a large piping bag. Set aside
3. Place milk, water, sugar and butter into a medium saucepan and allow to come to the boil.
4. Remove from the heat and place all the flour into the saucepan at once. Stir quickly and mix well.
5. Return the the mixture to the heat and stir over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. The mixture will leave a residue on the base of the pan when it is done.
6. Transfer the dough to a large glass bowl of bowl of your stand mixer. Spread the dough up the sides of the bowl to help cool quickly.
7. While the dough is cooling, make the glaze by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Mix until smooth and set aside.
8. Scrape the dough down from the sides of your bowl and add one egg. Mix until the egg is well combined.
9. Add the second egg and continue beating. If the pastry is not loose enough, add just the yolk of the third egg before testing. If you pinch some pastry off, then pull your fingers apart, it should stretch about 2 to 3cm before breaking. If it breaks before about 2cm, then add the remaining egg white and beat well. Beat the pastry until glossy.
10. Fill the prepared piping bag with the pastry. Pipe a heart onto each square of baking paper using the traced heart to guide you.
11. Pour enough oil into a medium pot for deep frying. Heat to 180C

12. Lift the hearts (including the paper) with a slotted spoon and place them into the heated oil. After 10 seconds, remove the paper and discard. 13. Fry in batches until golden brown.
14. Place fried crullers onto kitchen towel to absorb any extra oil.
15. Dip each cruller into the glaze and place on a cooking rack to cool completely.
16. Serve immediately.