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1. Use a heart shape cutter to cut several hearts out of a sheet of brownies.

2. Flip the brownies over onto a rack placed over parchment paper. Melt chocolate coating and pour over the brownies. Ensure all sides of the brownie are covered with chocolate.

3. To make fondant roses, sheet the fondant into a strip about 10 ins. long and 4 ins. wide. For smaller roses, make the strip shorter. Fold the fondant in half lengthwise.

4. Roll the fondant into roses, pressing the fondant together about 1 in. from the top. Fold the edges of the rose out slightly.

5. Make several roses in pink and red fondant. Use a cut paper tube to pipe piping gel on the outer edges of the roses.

6. Dip the roses into red or pink sanding sugar to add a little “bling.” Trim the excess fondant from the bottom of the roses.

7. Use tip No. 5 to pipe a hot pink swirl, then outline the brownie. Pipe a dot of icing in the upper left corner of the heart to hold a rose.

8. Place a large pink rose dipped red sanding sugar on the brownie. With leaf tip No. 352, pipe three green petals on the rose.

9. For a different heart design, use tip No. 4 to outline the brownie heart with red icing.

10. Pipe an appropriate message using tip No. 4. Add a dot of icing to adhere a pink rose dipped in pink sanding sugar to the top of the heart. Use leaf tip No. 352 to pipe two green leaves around the rose.

11. Outline another heart with pink icing using tip No. 4 and a scallop motion. Pipe a message with the same tip.

12. At the top of the brownie, place a red heart dipped in red sanding sugar. Pipe two green leaves with leaf tip No. 352.

Rebecca Nels Lewis, winner of the 2009 Creative Decorating Competition, began decorating for a supermarket in-store bakery at age 14. In 1997, while still in college, she and business partner Melody Richey began what is now called elé Cake Co. They opened their first retail location in 2000 with a second store following in 2004. elé Cake Co. produces 400 to 500 cakes on its busiest days.