Valentine’s Day 2019: Gift and treat ideas

It’s that time of the year again. On Thursday, romance will reach a peak all over the world. It’s never easy to come up with the perfect way to celebrate it but we think that sweet treats and champagne will spoil your loved one.

Lola’s Cupcakes and Pommery champagne

Lola’s Cupcakes offer a selection of heartwarming (and mouthwatering) Valentine-inspired sweets. Available in three national railway stations, eight underground stations, four central London locations, five shopping centres as well as a UK-wide letterbox delivery service, it’s easy to secure one of Lola’s limited edition Valentine’s Day boxes.

If you commute, you can pick up a gift with little deviation from their daily route as there are easily accessible locations with early-to-late opening hours or, if you prefer, the letterbox-shaped Brownie Box can be ordered online.

Each of Lola’s 23 physical locations offers a choice of three limited edition hand-decorated items: Valentine cupcakes (regular or tiny size, with choice of sponge and finished with buttercream), Valentine cake (choice of sponge flamboyantly decorated available in three sizes) and the Valentine champagne hamper (6 full-size Valentine cupcakes, a mini bottle of champagne and a fresh red rose, packaged into a signature baby blue Lola’s Cupcake Tin).

The letterbox-friendly Valentine Heart-Shaped Brownie Boxes are ordered online with 2-3 days delivery time. They are finished with a variety of sugar decorations, chocolate drizzle or popping candy and are gluten free.

We suggest to have them with a glass of rosé champagne; we tried a few and the most appropriate is the Brut Royal Rose from Pommery. Its perfect colour and fine, fresh fruitiness make it the ultimate romantic choice.

Dominique Ansel Valentine’s Day afternoon tea

If you prefer to celebrate Valentine’s Day somewhere fancy, creative baker Dominique Ansel – voted the world’s best pastry chef by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2017 – offers Valentine’s Afternoon Tea from 14^th – 17th February. The chef has created five new savouries and four new sweets available for only four days in his Belgravia bakery. Priced from £42 and seating is available from 2pm and 4.15pm.

A selection of heart-shaped sandwiches are served as savouries with fillings including Smoked Salmon with Dill and Yuzu Crème Fraiche, Pepper Pastrami, Celeriac Rémoulade and Dijon Mustard and Beetroot Chutney and Sumac Breckland Egg Salad. Sweets include Angel Wings (mascarpone cream, lemon jam, almond sponge), Cupid’s Arrow (milk chocolate mousse, sour cherry and devil’s food cake sponge) and Love Heart (coconut ganache, passionfruit curd, lavender meringue) complete with “googly eyes”. Chef Ansel’s unique oval scones will be accompanied by heart-shaped truffles; the truffles are filled with cream and strawberry jam that burst when spread onto the warm fluffy scones.

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