Valentine’s Day Dessert Board

Make the holiday extra sweet with this dreamy Valentine’s Day Dessert Board featuring ice cream, fruit, candies, chocolate and sprinkles!

I don’t deny it: I am unabashedly a homebody. If I have a choice between going out and cozying up at home with Valentine’s Day Snacks and a chocolate brownie pie, or homemade waffles and ice cream, well, the “out” thing better be really good.

And when it comes to Valentine’s Day, I can’t remember the last time Jeff and I even tried to go out. The truth is, we both enjoying cooking, and we’re pretty good at it.

So, the meal we make at home is almost sure to better than any V-Day prix fixe menu out there. And sometimes we’ll just pick one of my charcuterie ideas and have that for dinner.

But really, we just like being together, and most of our life’s special moments are spent at home.

So far this year, we’re undecided as to what to make, so I’m leaning towards making this Valentine’s Day extra sweet by simply sharing a scoop of ice cream (with all the fixings!) with my husband.

This fantasy Valentine’s Day Dessert Board is of course a more elaborate tablescape than the two of us realistically need.

But with a new little family member around this year, I’m already picturing creating an elaborate dessert board like this to share with her and her friends when she’s older.

Tips to create your own Valentine’s Day Dessert Board:

• The centerpiece of my board is big scoops of Hudsonville Chocolate Raspberry Indulgence ice cream. Find me a better combo for Valentine’s Day than chocolate and raspberries. I bet you can’t! Hudsonville is a Michigan-based creamery that I’m excited to be working with this year. Their ice cream has been a mainstay in my freezer for years (usually Deer Traxx flavor). Any reason, any season – Hudsonville ice cream is my go-to (especially as the secret ingredient in my French toast with ice cream).
• One trick for an easy and efficient sundae bar is to pre-scoop the ice cream. Depending on how many people will be partaking, I’ll scoop one or more cartons of ice cream, and place the scoops in a parchment-paper lined container with a lid, then pop it into the freezer. When it comes time to serve, the scoops will be nice and frozen solid, giving people plenty of time to choose their toppings and dig in before melting occurs.
• This dessert board isn’t just for Valentine’s Day. Feel free to use this idea for a pink-themed baby or bridal shower! Conversely, make a blue-themed board for a baby boy with Hudsonville Blue Moon ice cream, blueberries, and blue sprinkles and candy.
• Of course, there’s no formal “recipe” here, but from the photos you can see that the items I chose for this dessert board include maraschino cherries, strawberry syrup (hot fudge is a great choice, too!), iced animal cookies, fresh raspberries, lots of red and pink candies and sprinkles, white chocolate truffles, and some store-bought mini cupcakes.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hudsonville Ice Cream. Sponsored posts help me pay for the costs associated with this blog (groceries…lots of groceries), and help support me as I pursue a career in recipe development and food photography. All opinions are 100% my own.