I use to think that dessert was synonymous with romance and or affection. That was last week though. If you accidentally lean into someone’s cake at a party and no one tells you until around 1 am and the person who points it out happens to be some tall cute guy who only noticed ’cause he was dancing with you and got icing on his hands, then dessert suddenly loses that “it” factor and becomes a reminder of how uncomfortably close you are to being the next Bridget Jones.

Yet prior to last week, desserts in general still had that decadent allure to them. Dessert started out as a luxurious extra course, another attempt to woo the opposite sex via their sweet tooth. Dessert symbolizes the extra care someone took in order to please an individual, hence, the dessert course dating appeal. (Arguably, the same could be said for breakfast.)

When thinking of romantic sweets, chocolate covered strawberries, a fluffy souffle, or a chocolate molten lave cake from Chili’s come to mind. Or maybe those are too Americanized or generic. Maybe romance comes in the form of Baklava (fried thin layers of pastry=heaven), Tiramisu (awesome!), or Bread Pudding (maybe a little weird for a date). While all of the above-minus the bread pudding-are varied romantic examples of dessert, what makes them unified in their exquisiteness is the amount of time and intricacy that goes into preparing them.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure any college or twenty-something girl would be impressed if her boyfriend or date went through any effort at all to bake a dessert. Even if it was instant jello pudding. However if you want to really impress an individual-originality and a somewhat impressive level of cooking skill are necessary. If you are looking for a delicious date dessert recipe look no further. This is incredibly easy to make, tasty, goes well with a bottle of wine or coffee, and if all else fails, you’ll have an awesome option for brunch the next morning.

Kara Lindsey writes about dating for Small Kitchen College. She is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin where she studies Film and Television.

**Recipe**

Chocolate Pastry Pillows
Makes 6 pastries

Total cooking time is 45 minutes. You can also get creative and substitute the hazelnut spread with apricot jam and semisweet chocolate chips, or raspberry jam with chocolate chips.

Ingredients
1 sheet (1/2 pound) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
2 tablespoons hazelnut chocolate spread (aka Nutella)
3 tablespoons dark chocolate chips
1 large egg, beaten
3 tablespoons sugar
chopped strawberries or nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 400° F.

On a lightly floured surface, cut the sheet of puff pastry lengthwise into thirds, and cut each third in half (for six 4-by-6-inch pieces). Place 1 teaspoon of the hazelnut spread in the lower center of each piece of dough. Top with the chocolate chips. *OR you can try chopped strawberries or nuts. Brush the edge of each pastry with egg and fold the pastry over the filling, pressing the edges together.

Using the points of a fork, seal the packets securely and brush the tops with the remaining egg. Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Place the pastries on a cookie sheet lightly coated with vegetable cooking spray and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.