A Valentine's evening in

Trying to book a restaurant? Don't bother

Fortnum & Mason's can deliver handmade tortellini (£1.95 per 100g), Aberdeen Angus Beef Wellington (£4.25 per 100g) or cherry and chocolate mousse (£2.50), among other delectables.

Somerset's Swaddles Farm offer a la carte three-meal ingredient packages (with cooking instructions) and an Armchair Cafè selling cyber-ready meals. It's all organic, so you know the lamb in your spicy shepherd's pie - seasoned with ginger, coriander and cardamom (£4.25) - was treated well.

Leaping Salmon is takeaway with a difference: it supplies fresh ingredients in the correct proportions for a particular recipe. And naturally, the dishes - such as butternut yellow curry (£14.95 for two people) - come with instructions.

Fancy making some sweets for your sweet?

Here are two recipes, one easy, one rather less so (but so appropriate), from Real Chocolate (published by Quadrille), a new recipe book by Rococo chocolate shop proprietor Chantal Coady.

Option 1: Water ganache (serves four)

You will need:

225g real dark chocolate
225ml boiling water
cream or creme fraiche to serve (optional).

What to do:

Break or chop the chocolate into pieces and melt in a low oven.

When it is melted, add the boiling water to the chocolate spoonful by spoonful.

It will thicken quickly at first, but it should become a smooth mixture when all the water is mixed in.

Put into six small coffee cups and chill. Serve with cream or crËme fra"che if desired.

Option 2: Bad girl's trifle (serves six)

200g real dark chocolate, finely chopped
150ml boiling water
4tbsp Morello cherry jam
one packet trifle sponges (eight pieces)
two jars of pears in their juice (about 400g pears, 400ml juice)
one good slug of eau-de-vie de poire Williams or vodka
500ml ready-made custard
250ml whipping cream
250ml plain full-fat thick-set yoghurt
chocolate curls, leaves or flakes and unsweetened cocoa powder to decorate.

What to do:

Make a water ganache (see above) using the chopped chocolate and water.
Spread a thin layer of cherry jam on the trifle sponges and arrange them in a glass trifle dish.

Strain the pears and keep the juice.

Mix the juice with a good slug of eau-de-vie or vodka and pour over the sponges.

Put a layer of pears on the sponge. Now pour the custard over the pears.
Very gently pour the cooled ganache over the layer of custard.

Leave to cool for an hour or so in the fridge.

Just before serving, whip the cream until reasonably stiff, mix in the yoghurt and spread on top of the choc.

Decorate with choc curls, leaves and flakes, then dust with sieved cocoa powder.