The way to his heart

Cookery correspondent and agony aunt Darina Allen gives some ideas for what to cook for your man on Valentine's day

I've always been an incurable romantic. My cookery students tease me about the number of times I use a heart-shaped cutter to decorate pies and tarts. I make heart-shaped biscuits, pretty little Coeur a la Crème, and scatter heart-shaped croutons over soup. A teeny bit obsessive, not to mention unsubtle, but great for a giggle.

With Valentine's Day coming up we can legitimately indulge our romantic side and go seriously over the top. Let's start at the beginning: get out the coloured pens and paper and make a heart-shaped invitation. Keep it light-hearted and fun – mustn't pretend you are too serious, might scare him away even before you get him to the table. Yes, the invite is for dinner – remember the way to every chap's heart and all that. It's worth a try anyway!

If you can't quite manage a three course meal, how about whipping up some little fairy cakes, ice them with bright pink-and-white icing and decorate them with those adorable little candles which spell out I LOVE YOU. In fact, they would make a pretty edible centrepiece for your dinner table. Set the scene with scented candles, dark red roses, love hearts in a glass bowl and pretty napkins. Champagne or bubbly of some kind is a must. Drink it not just as an aperitif, but sip it all the way through to heighten the feeling of fun and excitement.

So what to eat? It's difficult to choose – should it be comfort food or over-the-top luxury? Crunchy cruditees with a bowl of garlic mayonnaise would be delicious and fun, but perhaps the garlic might not be a good idea later. You may want to choose some aphrodisiac food – a couple of dozen oysters, some lobster, caviar, or wild mushrooms. If you are really trying to bring on a proposal though, beware of seeming too extravagant – he may conclude that you would be far too expensive to keep!

So how about cheese fondue with lots of crusty white bread for dunking – this could be served as a starter or a main dish. (I wrote about fondues in last week's piece.)

A rack of lamb with a gutsy bean stew would make a delicious main course served with a few rustic roast potatoes. Looks impressive, and it's very easy to cook. There will be lots of time for soulful chat while the meat and potatoes are roasting.

For dessert there's lots of sweet nonsense. Pretty little heart-shaped Coeur a la Crème are adorable, serve with poached apricots.

The dark intensity of chocolate mousse is perfect to linger over with a cup of freshly ground espresso, or you may want to finish on something fruity – like this banana and passion fruit in lime syrup, with some boudoir biscuits for dunking, or maybe some heart-shaped shortbread biscuits.

If you can't cook, don't despair. Little notes with secret messages tucked into wallets beside credit cards, or behind the sun shade in the car, or even into a shoe, will give most people an oops in their tummy, or at least a giggle. Happy Valentine's Day.