Forget flowers, bakers are helping the nation say ‘I love you’ with doughnuts, tarts, biscuits, cupcakes, and more this Valentine’s Day.
There’s even the ‘ultimate pastry alternative to clichéd chocolate boxes’ in Greggs’ luxuriously packaged selection box of savoury bakes.
We check out the array of amorous offerings looking to capture hearts during the occasion this year:
24 Karat Magic Love Heart Mega doughnut, Project D
Following on from making the UK’s biggest doughnut last March, Derby-based Project D is launching a limited-edition, gold-covered 1kg doughnut priced at £29.95 for nationwide delivery.
Available for order online in the days building up to Valentine’s Day, the huge heart-shaped creation has a Belgian white chocolate base and a melted Caramac gold filling (based on the Nestlé chocolate bar that was discontinued last year). It’s topped with pieces of KitKat, Lion Bar, Malteser Bar, White Terry’s Chocolate Orange, gold Belgian chocolate, and caramel crunch balls, as well as golf leaf and edible gold lustre spray.
Eight other Love Heart Mega doughnuts are also on sale from £15.95 to £17.95 each, with varieties including the Lemon-Berry Bonanza, the Buenissemo, the XOXO, Berrylicious, White Choc Brownie, Homer, Caramel Dreams, and the Choc Choc Brownie. Smaller versions are also available.
Valentine’s Day dough bites, Crosstown
The London-based doughnut specialist, which also has shops in Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol, Brighton and Bath, is once again rolling out a selection of indulgently flavoured dough bites for the season of love.
Available to pre-order for delivery or collection between 8 and 14 February, the four flavour options are:
- Lychee & Cinnamon (vegan) – Crosstown’s signature sourdough filled with lychee and cinnamon compote, topped with cinnamon glaze, and finished with freeze-dried lychee, peach blush rose petal and silver glitter (£3.50 each)
- Passion Fruit & Chocolate (vegan) – vegan cocoa sourdough filled with a passion fruit and dark chocolate custard, dipped in a passion fruit, caramel, and dark chocolate glaze, and hand-finished with gold rose petal and gold lustre (£3.50 each)
- Ruby Chocolate & Cherry Liqueur – black cocoa dough filled with cherry Heering liqueur custard, dipped into a ruby chocolate and cherry Heering liqueur glaze, adorned with freeze-dried cherry pieces and red glitter (online exclusive)
- Sauvignon Blanc & Strawberry – dough filled with Sauvignon Blanc and strawberry ganache, topped with a Sauvignon Blanc and strawberry glaze, handmade vegan Sauvignon Blanc jelly, and a red rose petal (online exclusive).
Dough bite boxes are also available, with a three-pack from £9.45 and a 15-pack from £39.95.
The Bake Tray, Greggs
Finally, here’s something for all the savoury lovers sick of customary sweet gifts. The bakery chain has coupled up with UberEats to deliver a limited-edition sharing selection box to customers in Newcastle, Manchester, London, Glasgow, and Cardiff on 14 February.
Presented in a bespoke red box with shiny gold interior, the Bake Tray costs just £10 and contains one each of Greggs’ top six pastries including a Steak Bake, Sausage Roll, Sausage, Bean & Cheese Melt, Vegan Steak Bake, Vegan Sausage Roll, and Chicken Bake.
Sweet pizza, giant cookie and biscuits, Morrisons
The retailer assures consumers it is on hand to help them treat loved ones to baked goods, with prices starting from just £1.
Freshly crafted in stores and available now, the range includes:
- Valentine’s Sweet Pizza (£3.50) – smooth cream cheese on a 10” pizza base, topped with marshmallows, chocolate hearts, and chunks of double chocolate cookie
- Strawberry & Chocolate Dessert (£3.59) – layers of slow-baked meringue and rich cream finished with whole strawberries
- Giant Cookie & Brownie (£7) – a milk chocolate and brownie cookie with hand-piped icing
- Gingerbread and Shortbread Heart Biscuits (£1, sold individually) – lightly-spiced gingerbread and buttery shortbreads, either heart-shaped or with heart-like decorations.
Iced Cherry Bakewell Tarts, The Bakewell Tart Shop
The family-owned firm has run a store in Bakewell for over 100 years that is believed to be where Bakewell tarts and Bakewell puddings were first commercially baked.
To help customers express their love this month, the bakery is offering either a traditional Valentine’s message or personalised wording (up to 20 characters) atop its iced cherry Bakewell tarts. They follow a recipe said to create a frangipane ‘wet mix’ for extra moisture along with a jam layer inside the pastry shell, topped with icing and a cherry.
At six inches in diameter, they are priced at £17.15 each and available instore or online for nationwide delivery.
Hot Lips biscuits and breakfast hamper, Gail’s Bakery
The bakery business is heralding the return of its lip-shaped iced biscuits (£3 each) comprising rich chocolate shortbread adorned with raspberry icing, which has extracted colours from beetroots, plums, and radishes.
Gail’s has also curated a collection of decadent treats to elevate Valentine’s Day morning, presumably to be enjoyed in bed. The Baker’s Breakfast Hamper (£45.50) includes a cinnamon bun, croissant, fresh sourdough, smoked salmon, cow’s whey butter, Seville orange marmalade, fruit & nut granola, Oxfordshire honey, eggs, and orange juice.
Heart-shaped doughnuts, Dunkin’
A half dozen new varieties of heart-shaped doughnuts has been unveiled by the US brand as part of its Leaps of Love range. These include:
- Love You S’more – chocolate biscuit filling, chocolate icing, biscuit crumb, mini marshmallows, pink vanilla drizzle
- Chip A Heartbeat – chocolate filling, red vanilla icing, chocolate chips, vanilla drizzle
- Salted Caramelt Blisscoff – salted caramel Speculoos filling, salted caramel icing, Speculoos crumb, salted caramel icing
- Nuts About You – Nutella filling, peanut butter icing, white chocolate curls, chocolate drizzle
- Butter Me Up – butterscotch crème filling, vanilla icing, honeycomb pieces, caramel drizzle
- Oreo So Sweet – cookies and crème filling, chocolate icing, red vanilla drizzle, mini Oreo biscuit.
Priced at £10 for a box of six or £19.50 for a box of 12, they are available at all 28 Dunkin’ stores across the UK from 1 to 29 February (your welcome for the reminder that 2024 is a leap year).
Cupcakes, shortbread and gingerbread, Birds Bakery
Fresh off the launch of vibrant spring green branding at its latest store, the East Midlands-based bakery chain has rolled out a limited-edition range of sweet treats for customers looking to buy something for that someone special.
Available now at all 61 stores and online for UK-wide delivery, the range includes red velvet cupcakes, Billionaire’s shortbread (£1.65 each), and a Gingerbread Valentine Person (£2.15), along with the likes of chocolate orange frogs and chocolate hearts.
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