Watch: Local Candy Shops Prepare For Busy Valentine's Day

Whether you're craving chocolate or giving a gift to your sweetheart, Valentine's Day is a sweet day for sweets shops around the nation.

Nouveau Chocolates Owner Melvin Piper's day starts at 5 a.m. That's when he starts tempering the chocolate machines, a process that takes an hour. Then he starts dipping strawberries one by one and clipping them to dry. Each strawberry is double-dipped in chocolate by hand. Piper says the berries are the most popular seller by far.

Piper says total, the shop's sold more than 700 chocolate-covered strawberries this year. Due to orders flying off the shelves since this weekend, and for Valentine’s Day, customers could only purchase the dessert by coming into the store. Each chocolate is hand-made with love.

"This is the busiest day of the year. It's a madhouse all day long. We're rushing back and forth between the kitchen and the front, packaging everything. The thing that takes us the most time is the packaging because we do hand-tied ribbons,” Piper said.

Along with the berries, Piper says other prominent delicacies are heart-shaped truffle boxes and heartbreakers, a chocolate shells you can break to find treats inside.

If you're in need of a last-minute gift for your Valentine, Nouveau Chocolates in the Rose District is open until 9 p.m.