Will you be my valentine? Sure, I have a husband. And a son. And they’re my valentines-in-chiefs. But you guys, you make my heart beat. Especially when my deadline is approaching and time won’t stop.

This year I wanted to make lusciously sweet stuff that looks really fancy and difficult but it’s not. And I threw in a pink smoothie for my poor, poor hubby who won’t eat any of the good stuff. Which is not to say that the smoothie isn’t good. He tells me it’s wonderful.

But among the sugar-consumers, meaning almost everyone else I know, these foods were all hit out of the park. I messed them all up, too. Yup, every one. Maybe you can tell in the pictures? No? I couldn’t tell when I was eating them, either.

Five things I learned:
1. This one is just funny. I don’t know what “I learned” other than to use my common sense and critical thinking skills when looking at a recipe that calls for 3 quarts of heavy cream for 12 standard muffin-sized tarts.

The recipe, in the Spring 2017 Kraft Food & Family magazine called for 12 sheets of phyllo, 12 small strawberries, 12 ounces of chocolate and 12 cups of whipping cream. Now, when I first did my shopping, I gazed right through the 12 and bought 2 cups (one pint) of whipping cream. Then I went to make the recipe and noticed for the first time that it called for 12 cups, (3 quarts). I wanted to bang my head against the cupboard.

I should have patted myself on the back, instead. But no, I stopped everything, ran to the store for the rest and came home to get on with my cooking.

2. Now, if you have ever whipped whipping cream, you know that you’re adding air until it doubles in volume. I have a 4-quart bowl under my stand mixer, and I was about to whip 3 quarts of cream. I knew this wasn’t going to work, so I put a towel over it and waited for the mess. After it started overflowing, I split the cream mixture in half, added the melted chocolate to one batch and the pudding to the other batch, combined it all in my biggest mixing bowl with my hand-mixer until it made the palest color of cafe au lait you’ve ever seen — not at all like the photos, in which the filling is the darkest of chocolate mousse.

But it tasted good, so, rather than waste it all, I just used it instead. And, yes, I checked the online version of the recipe and it had been corrected to call for just 2 cups of whipping cream rather than 12. Ahem. I know my own recipes occasionally contain typos as well. So for all those times I’ve sent you all for a loop, this is your chance to laugh at me.

3. Speaking of not looking like the picture, my Red Velvet Heart Cookies were not the brilliant ruby red that Better Homes & Gardens’ were. Mine came out more like a burgundy. I’m going to blame this on my cocoa powder, which is Hershey’s Special Dark.

Also, I couldn’t find heart-shaped stencils for the powdered sugar dusting in either of two craft stores, which made me sad. I got my best results from a doily.

To use stencils if you can find or fashion them, make sure you place them directly on the surface of the cookie and put the powdered sugar in a small strainer about 6 inches above the cookie and barely shake it once or twice. Otherwise, you’ll just get a formless dusting.

4. With the truffles, you really have to give the ingredients their allotted time in the refrigerator, especially the white chocolate mixture, which wants to stay sticky for some reason. You’ll get best results from firm, cold truffle mixture when you’re rolling them into balls as well as before and after coating. As courteous as the French themselves, they do not respond favorably to being rushed.

5. You can really put anything you want in the smoothie. I picked and chose ingredients from several recipes going as much for color and flavor as for health.

I would definitely go with frozen fruit. I drank this one warm and it was just plain nasty. John might have liked it, but he’ll eat anything. And nothing. A study in contrasts, my husband, my valentine-in-chief.
Have a sweet Valentine’s Day. And go easy on the cream.

Chocolate Mousse Tarts with Strawberries
Total time: 45 minutes; makes 12 tarts
12 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
4 tablespoons butter, melted
12 small strawberries
2 ounces Baker’s Bittersweet Chocolate
2 cups whipping cream, divided
1 (3.9 oz.) package JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding

Heat oven to 350 F.
Brush 12 muffin pan cups with melted butter. Place 1 phyllo sheet on work surface; brush lightly with melted butter. Top with 5 of the remaining phyllo sheets, brushing each phyllo sheet with butter before stacking as directed. Cut into 6 squares with sharp knife. Lightly press each layered square into a prepared muffin cup. Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets to fill remaining prepared muffin cups.

Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack; cool completely. Meanwhile, cut strawberries into roses. (See tip.)

Melt bittersweet chocolate as directed on package. Gradually stir in ½ cup cream; set aside. Beat remaining cream in medium bowl with mixer on high speed 2 minutes or until thickened. Gradually add chocolate mixture, beating on medium speed until well blended. Add dry pudding mix; beat 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened.

Spoon pudding mixture into piping bag (see note) fitted with star tip; use to pipe pudding mixture into tart shells. Top with strawberry roses.
Tip: To make strawberry roses, use a small sharp knife to cut each strawberry into 5 thin slices, starting at the tip of the strawberry and being careful to not cut all the way through strawberry. Gently separate slices in each strawberry to resemble flower.

Notes:
— If you don’t have a piping bag, you can instead use a resealable plastic bag. Spoon pudding mixture into bag, then cut small piece off one bottom corner of bag and use to squeeze pudding mixture into cooled tart shells.
— The tart shells can be prepared ahead of time. Cool, then store in tightly covered container at room temperature up to 24 hours before filling as directed.
— Filled tart shells can be refrigerated up to 3 hours before serving.
— Kraft Food & Family

Red Velvet Heart Cookies
Total time: 2 hours; prep time 40 minutes
1 cup butter, softened
1¼ cups sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
Powdered sugar for dusting

In a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs, food coloring and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover; chill dough 1 hour or until easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 375 F. On a floured surface roll half the dough at a time to ¼-inch thickness. Cut dough using a 2½- to 3½-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 7 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very light brown. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, using stencils if desired. Makes 46 2½-inch or 22 3½-inch cookies.
— Better Homes & Gardens

French Kiss Truffles
Total time: 45 minutes plus chilling; Makes 32 truffles
8 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
½ teaspoon grated orange peel
¼ teaspoon orange extract
8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
Coating:
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
Additional milk and white baking chocolate, melted

Place white chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring 1/3 cup cream just to a boil. Pour over white chocolate; whisk until smooth. Stir in orange peel and extract.

Place milk chocolate in another small bowl. In the same saucepan, bring remaining cream just to a boil. Pour over milk chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool both mixtures to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate until firm.

To form centers, take 1½ teaspoons of each chocolate mixture and shape into a two-tone ball, about 1 inch round. Place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets; cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

In a double boiler or metal bowl over simmering water, whisk semisweet chocolate until smooth. Dip truffles in chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Return to baking sheets; drizzle with additional chocolate as desired. Refrigerate until set. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
— Taste of Home

Loving Life Smoothie
Makes 1 roughly 16-ounce smoothie
1 banana
1 small apple, cored and sliced into wedges
¼ cup fresh or frozen red raspberries
1 whole canned beet plus 2 tablespoons beet juice
2 tablespoons almonds
1 cup coconut water or almond milk, or more until smoothie reaches desired consistency

If you want your smoothie cold, chill ingredients before blending. Add all ingredients to blend and puree. Pour into glass and serve.
— Adapted from Wegmans Menu magazine
— Jennie Geisler can be reached on Twitter: @ETNGeisler.