Two big events are taking place this month — Chinese New Year on 5 February and Valentine’s Day on 14 February. Now that the Year of the Earth Pig has been formally welcomed and ushered in with the usual festive revelry, everyone’s attention is focused on preparations for Valentine’s Day. It is sweetness overload, indeed, both literally and figuratively. Not only is love the sweetest feeling ever. Sweet treats — cakes, pies, pastries and chocolates — are everywhere, too. Go the extra mile this season of love and show your loved one just how much you care. Opt for unique treats that won’t cost an arm and a leg, but delight your loved one no end.

Here are some sweet suggestions that come highly recommended.

La Brazorria de Lasevil’s Frozen Brazo. LA ROYALE PATISSERIE’S MATCHOCO

Tin can cakes are all the rage this season, and La Royale Patisserie’s Matchoco by dessert prince Edward David Mateo is to die for. It is pure indulgence in a bronze can, with a moist, super chocolatey cake base layered with chocolate ganache, chocolate mousse, green tea matcha paste and gooey chocolate crowned by a chocolate disc and dusted with cocoa powder and green tea powder, all for P470 per can.

To order Matchoco, call La Royale Patisserie at 0917-8802139 and/or 0935-0360515, or leave a message on Facebook or Instagram.

True Chocolate PH’s Belgian Dark and White Chocolate Squares with edible flowers and Himalayan pink sea salt. TRUE CHOCOLATE PH’S CHOCOLATE SQUARES

True Chocolate PH is a home-based chocolate business specializing in made-to-order, handcrafted gourmet chocolate bars, truffles and bonbons. Established by a PR consultant and chocoholic, Treena Tecson, who left her day job to pursue her true passion, True Chocolate PH combines chocolates and flowers in its Valentine offering — Belgian Dark and White Chocolate Squares with edible flowers and Himalayan Pink Sea Salt.

Get it for P550 per box of four, and you can choose from Dark Chocolate Squares, White Chocolate Squares or a combination.

For inquires and orders, email truechocolateph@gmail.com, log in to its website www.truechocolateph.com, or leave a message on Instagram @truechocolateph or Facebook www.facebook.com/truechocolateph.

Bellefleur by Beatrix offers many unique and delicious cakes, but for this Valentine, Beatrix Atienza specifically created Mango Tres Leches Cake. It is a layer of leche flan, topped with a vanilla chiffon cake, embraced by broas all soaked in a special tres leches sauce. It is then covered in a layer of mango cream and finished off with fresh mangoes.

Mango Tres Leches of Bellefleur by Beatrix. “The best way to enjoy this cake is to eat it straight from the freezer.

An eight-inch round Mango Tres Leches Cake, good for eight to 10 servings, costs P1,350 per cake. It is available in the Bellefleur by Beatrix store outside Unimart Greenhills daily, but since stocks run out very quickly, it is best to pre-order two to three days in advance. Call 0917-8258730 or order via its Instagram or Facebook accounts.

Dorothy Ferreria is a big name in the local cooking and baking industry. She sells specialty cakes from home and conducts intimate cooking and baking classes in Quezon City, and one of the cakes that she is most famous for is her Linda Cake.

She named it after her 75-year-old BFF Linda Morelos, who simply loves the color pink. The Linda Cake was conceptualized while Ferreria was conducting a cake decorating demonstration for the Cake Boss brand where she remembered her friend and topped her cake with pink roses. Just as she always does, she took a picture of the cake, posted it on Facebook, and since many Facebook friends liked the photo, orders for the Linda Cake started pouring in.

La Royale Patisserie’s Matchoco. “I ended up doing the Linda Cake in different colors, depending on the preference of my customers,” says Ferreria.

Priced at P1,000, the Linda Cake is actually an 8-inch round two-layer chocolate chiffon cake with dulce de leche filling and fluffy marshmallow icing. The roses on top are also made of marshmallow icing.

To order, call 961-8682, text 0926-0151884, or leave a message on her Facebook account, for pick-up at Panay Ave. near corner Sct. Borromeo in Quezon City. A three-day advanced notice for orders is requested.

When it comes to cookies that truly satisfy one’s sweet cravings, nothing can compare to Tochi Desserts by Chef James Antolin. He makes the best cookies and the choices are a-plenty—Salted Macadamia, Double Chocolate Chip, Matcha, Peanut Butter, Espresso Walnut and White Chocolate Cranberry. His Salted Macadamia Cookies are the bestsellers.

Ikomai-Tochi cookies, clockwise (from top left) Salted Macadamia, Matcha, Espresso Walnut, White Chocolate Cranberry and Double Chocolate Chip. Tochi cookies are sold at P65 per piece, P300 per canister of five cookies, P350 per soft box of five cookies, and P580 per red tin can of eight Tochi cookies.

For orders, call 816-4588 or visit Ikomai-Tochi Desserts at 147 ACI Group Bldg., H.V. dela Costa, Salcedo Village, Makati City.

Frozen Brazos have come of age, and one of the best in the metro is La Brazorria de Lasevil’s Frozen Brazo. It marries the company’s original Brazo de Remedios and Carmen’s Best Salted Caramel Ice Cream. It is available in single-serve cups and in trays.

Other variants available at La Brazorria de Lasevil are Brazo de Remedios (Original), Brazo de Luna (Salted Egg), Brazo de Lila (Ube con Pastillas), and Brazo de Oscar (Sugar-free Original). These are regular Brazo rolls.

Seasonal variants that become available at different times of the year are Brazo de Bola (Quezo de Bola), Brazokasi (Matcha) and Brazo de Loco (Chocolate).

Half rolls are readily available at La Brazorria de Lasevil’s kiosks, located at the Lower Ground Floor of Ayala Malls The 30th, Level 3 of TriNoma Mall. For deliveries, a two-day lead time is required. Orders may be placed via Instagram @labrazorriadelasevil or Facebook (facebook.com/labrazorriadelasevil). Delivery is via Lalamove and payment is through BPI deposit.