Ever been in this situation? You leave work late one evening, driving down the busy high street towards your home, when you see scores of kissing couples wandering arm-in-arm and adorning restaurant windows. It hits you. Today is Valentine’s Day and you’ve forgotten. What comes into your head is one simple, solitary word: “Chocolates”. Chocolates… the last bastion of the doomed Valentine. You swerve into the nearest petrol station, barrel-roll out your car door and run the assault course of the forecourt – dodging cars, people, pumps left and right – grabbing at the first box of chocolates that takes your eye – only you crash head-first into a queue of customers.

If this scenario sounds familiar – and your loved one has a penchant for the aforementioned sugary snack – then you will love my original and creative chocolate gift ideas. Whilst the above anecdote is a typically male experience – my selection features gift ideas for both him and her. With this simple guide you can avoid perilous last minute gift-rushes whilst earning brownie (no pun intended) points for your enterprise and ingenuity! Simply click the links to check out my recommendations, have your favourite delivered to your own doorstep – then sit back and post a comment below to tell me what you think!

There are some unique chocolate gifts available this Valentine’s Day; here are some of my favourites:

• Give your lover the gift of sugary self-medication with this fantastic 7 Day Chocolate Prescription (£14.99)!

• Treat him or her to a night in with a twist by ordering a Valentine’s Chocoholic Pizza (£14.95).

• Impress your loved one by brewing delicious hot chocolate with Drinking Chocolate Shavings (£9.80) and a Gourmet Hot Chocolate Teapot (£19.95).

• Give the gift of creativity with Name A Box of Chocs (£29.95) or Master the Art of Chocolate Making (£24.95). And if you really feel like splashing out, why not participate together in a Chocolate Making Workshop for Two (£134.95)?

• Bring your partner a welcome blast from the past with this retro box of Tuckshop Sweets (£17.99).

• Combine chocolate and beauty with these Chocolate Box Lip Glosses (£7.99).

• Why not physically set your heart in chocolate and give it to your loved one in a slightly disturbing yet undeniably romantic gesture? Or, at least, give your lover a foil-wrapped chocolate heart (£12.95) from the Chocolate Trading Co.

• Thorntons, in a moment of mad brilliance, have combined chocolate with another Valentine’s staple – flowers – in the ultimate “got-all-my-bases-covered” lover’s gift! (from £22).

• Strapped for cash? The good old (and economical!) bar of chocolate (£1-3; available at Sainsbury’s) is sure to raise a smile from any recipient. Perfect for inclusion into a home-made Valentine’s hamper for your partner. For best results, also place yourself inside the hamper and spring out!