In 2001, Lewis met Poliafito at Deutsch, Inc., an advertising agency in New York City. They didn't hit it off at first. "We avoided each other," says Poliafito, who had previously worked as a graphic designer but dreamed of owning a coffee shop someday. Lewis, meanwhile, had been taking after-hours pastry classes at Peter Kump's New York Cooking School (now called the Institute of Culinary Education). In 2002, pursuing his first love (desserts), he co-founded Chocolate Bar, an innovative chocolate shop in New York City's Greenwich Village; soon after, Poliafito contacted him about designing a website for the store. They clicked so well as collaborators that when Lewis began looking for a partner to open a bakery in Brooklyn, he immediately thought of Poliafito.

After the hipsterish Red Hook outpost became an instant success, opening a second Baked in Charleston less than four years later was a natural step. Lewis had fallen for the city when his family moved there seven years before. The new bakery combines elements of the original with a liberal dose of Southern Gothic. It's filled with curiosities and folk art and includes a 1920s library-like lounge—the perfect retreat for a new generation of cupcake addicts. On the horizon is a line of chocolate bars created in partnership with chocolatier Jacques Torres and inspired by the flavors of Baked's most popular confections. But for now, Lewis and Poliafito are just excited to share their exquisitely crafted recipes. "We love it when people want to make our desserts," says Poliafito. "It means we've become a part of their lives."

If your own life happens to include a valentine with a sweet tooth, you'll find these seven homestyle-with-a-twist recipes tailor-made for romance. The red-and-white cookie, an O exclusive, is an update of the black-and-white classic; the dark-chocolate brownie spiced with ancho chili will appeal to anyone who likes a little heat with her sugar. And don't worry; you don't need to be a spectacularly gifted baker for these recipes to come out right. "We had an army of testers," says Poliafito, so they're virtually goofproof. You may be a fool for love, but that's no reason to be anything short of a genius when it comes to desserts.