Forget flowers. This Valentine’s Day, say it with chocolate sauce.

What could be a better expression of love, affection or even romantic interest than serving a dessert topped with a chocolate sauce you made yourself?

The stuff that comes out of a bottle or a can just does not have the same impact.

“I love you so much that I twisted the top off this plastic jug for you” is not a sentiment that speaks to the loftiest ideals of romance. And the sauce is never going to taste as good as one you whip up yourself in just a matter of minutes.

It’s your choice: Good quality chocolate or cocoa, heavy cream and vanilla, versus high-fructose corn syrup, potassium sorbate and xanthan gum.

I made four distinctly different chocolate sauces for this Valentine’s Day, four variations on a chocolatey theme. And what could be better than a chocolatey theme?

The first, a chocolate ganache, is my go-to chocolate sauce, as well it should be. There is positively nothing on this earth as smooth and rich and decadent as a chocolate ganache. It can be used to fulfill any number of your chocolate needs, and it is exceptionally easy to make.

All you have to do is pour hot cream over chopped chocolate and stir until it is all blended together. For the most deliciously sinful results, use heavy cream and good chocolate, but you could make it with chocolate chips if you must, and light cream or even half-and-half.

And because it thickens as it cools, you can use ganache for practically anything: ice cream, of course — it isn’t chocolate sauce if you can’t put it on ice cream — or as a frosting for cakes or cupcakes. You can use it to top a doughnut or éclair, or you can dip cookies or biscotti in it.

Any way you use it, it will be amazing.

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