Decadent sweets are as much a part of Valentine’s Day as paper hearts and red roses. Local shops are cooking up a storm of delicious concoctions, specifically decorated and packaged with gift-giving in mind.

Business is booming in anticipation of Valentine’s Day for shop owners including Terry Xidis of Hazel Hill Chocolate Traditions, 724 S. Kansas Ave.

“This week will get busier and busier culminating on Saturday as our busiest single day of the year,” Xidis said. “The day before Valentine's in past years has been busier than any other day, including Christmas shopping days.”

Xidis and her staff are preparing a variety of delectable sweets that are almost too beautiful to eat – almost. Offerings will include small and large heart boxes full of chocolates, glass heart dishes filled with chocolates or truffles, tuxedo rice crispy treats and strawberries dipped in white, milk or dark chocolate, topped with sliced almonds, chocolate chips, toasted coconut, sprinkles or a simple drizzle. All gifts at Hazel Hill will be packaged in theme, and Valentine gift bags and cards will also be available.

“The best seller is strawberries – they are beautiful,” Xidis said. “Strawberries are fragile and need to be given as soon after purchase as possible, so most people will pick theirs up on Saturday this year.”

The hard work and thorough preparation needed to meet the season’s demand do not go unnoticed, Xidis said. Customers often let her know the gifts they gave were appreciated, and many recipients later post reviews online.

Allyson Fiander, owner of Daddy Cakes, 4102 S.W. Gage Center Drive, said the shop is usually closed on Sundays, but will be open on Valentine’s Day from noon – 3 p.m.

Daddy Cakes will be whipping up a mouth-watering array of Valentine’s Day-themed sweets, including:

• Cream Filled Box O’ Chocolates: Six chocolate babycakes with creamy Frangelico, Amaretto and Chambord filling. All decorated with pink, white and chocolate buttercream and a chocolate wafer.

• Red Velvet Seduction: A huge red velvet daddy cake dipped in bittersweet chocolate ganache, topped with red buttercream and a chocolate candy heart.

“Cupcakes are the perfect gift,” Fiander said. “You can bring them to your kid’s classroom, your co-workers, your sweetheart – anyone. Women often struggle with what to buy men, but you can’t go wrong with cupcakes.”

The shop offers a box of 24 Two-Bite Cupcakes in an assortment of flavors and decorations, which Fiander compared to a box of chocolates. Customers can even personalize a Conversation Heart Cupcake with a message of their choosing for that special someone.

Fiander recommended that customers call ahead to place their orders, but said she and her staff also work hard to accommodate walk-ins the day-of.

“Many of our customers are women, and they tend to plan ahead,” Fiander said. “But we do see a lot of men walking in on Valentine’s Day looking for a little guidance.”

Detailed descriptions, prices and photos of the shop’s full list of Valentine’s Day items are available at www.daddycakescupcakes.com under the blog section.

More sweets for the sweet

Heart-themed goodies are perennially popular Valentine’s Day selections at Yum, 5331 S.W. 22nd Place.

Cookies, cakes and cupcakes shaped like hearts or decorated with them can be personalized with messages scrawled in icing. Sculpted, three-dimensional cakes, like those seen on TV’s “Cake Boss,” are also available.

The Cookie Boutique, 1801 S.W. Wanamaker Rd. in West Ridge Mall, is creating an array of special Valentine’s Day treats packaged in whimsically romantic arrangements. The shop’s offerings include:

• A bouquet of six rosebud-shaped cookies dipped in chocolate and arranged in a red vase.

• A bouquet of chocolate chip cookies on sticks wrapped in heart-patterned cellophane laid out with silk ferns in a rose box.

The Cookie Boutique offers delivery service to any location in Shawnee County for an additional $7 fee.