Valentine's Day is the perfect time to show your loved ones just how much you really love them. My Red Hot Red Velvet Cake is the perfect dessert to seal the deal!

Nikki Shaw: Valentine's Day is the day to express your friendship, affection or love for another. I can remember stuffing little envelopes with valentines for all of my classmates in elementary school. Each student would decorate a shoebox with red construction paper and leave it on his or her desk. By lunchtime, the boxes would be filled with tiny cards and sweet, pink, "chalky" heart-shaped candies that said "Be Mine."

Now that we're all grown and sexy, let's take it over-the-top! Have you ever made a cake from "scratch?" This Red Hot Red Velvet Cake will definitely start the fire. Red velvet cake is a delicious favorite from the South. It's basically a moist chocolate cake with sweet cream-cheese frosting. Guess what makes a red velvet cake red? Get this: It's simply red food coloring!

"NIK TIP:" Do something "outside of YOUR box" for Valentine's Day this year. I'm sure your sweetie would love it.

In this bitter economy, I'll show you how to make life sweet right at home.

Celebrity Chef Nikki Shaw is the owner of Flavor Caterer in Oakland, California, and was a finalist on the Food Network's "Next Food Network Star." She is the host of the radio show "Today's Flavor," broadcast on San Francisco's KBLX and webcast on WBLS in New York. She is married to LA Lakers Assistant Coach Brian Shaw and lives in both Northern and Southern California with their three children. www.chefnikkishaw.com