Couples cooking: Six recipes for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner

Plan to make this cake earlier in the day, or even the day before. (If you made the grocery list and did the grocery shopping, your partner takes the cake.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

In the microwave, melt butter and chopped chocolate for 1 minute, stir to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer, beat eggs with the sugar at medium-high speed until pale and thick, 4 to 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla and coffee. Add flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Beat in chocolate at medium speed. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake in the center of oven for about 1 hour, until edges are set and the center is still a little jiggly. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and remove outside ring from pan.

Slice and serve with cream and garnish with berries, if desired.

One cook: Preheat oven, melt butter, juice lemon, cut lemon

Two cook: Cut lobster tails, place tails in the oven, pull hot tails from the oven

Preheat oven to broil.

Use kitchen scissors to cut through the shell of lobster, cutting all the way to the tail.

Place lobster tails on a sheet pan so cut is facing up. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of butter on each tail and drizzle with juice of 1 lemon. Add lemon halves to the sheet pan.

Place prepared lobster in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes, checking early to make sure you do not overcook. (The lobster will continue to cook after it is removed from the oven; a rule of thumb for lobster tails is 1 minute of cooking time per ounce.)

To serve: Top with remaining butter and garnish with broiled lemon half. Serve with additional melted butter, if desired.

One cook makes the salad and places it in the refrigerator to chill while the other does the Garlic Roasted Baby Potatoes.

Arrange cucumbers and tomatoes on two chilled plates. Top with blue cheese and pomegranate seeds. Dress with herbed vinaigrette just before serving.

Note: Look for pomegranate seeds in the refrigerator case in the produce aisle of a well-stocked supermarket.

One cook makes the potatoes while the other makes the Cucumber and Baby Heirloom Tomato Salad.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Spray a sheet pan with vegetable cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, toss potatoes, rosemary, sage, thyme and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pour potatoes on prepared pan. Place in oven and reduce heat to 425 degrees. Roast for 15 to 18 minutes, until crispy outside and fork tender inside.

One cook makes the Brussels sprouts while the other prepares the Deconstructed Beef Wellington.

In a large sauté pan, over medium-high heat, add honey and balsamic vinegar and cook for 5 minutes. Add olive oil and Brussels sprouts and continue cooking for 5 additional minutes. Garnish with pomegranate seeds, shaved Parmesan and minced shallot.

Note: Look for pomegranate seeds in the refrigerator case in the produce aisle of a well-stocked supermarket.

One cook makes the main dish while the other cook prepares the Brussels sprouts.

In a large sauté pan, over medium heat, add butter, olive oil, sherry, mushrooms, shallot, garlic and thyme. Sauté for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Place mushrooms in a bowl and cover to keep warm.

Drizzle beef filets with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, over medium-high heat, sear filets for about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Turn off heat and cover, allowing meat to rest for 10 minutes.

Use a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to press out 4 hearts from puff pasty. Brush with egg-wash and bake according to package directions.

To assemble: To place a puff pasty heart on each plate, top with filet, add mushroom mixture and top with additional puff pasty hearts. Garnish with minced chives.