I love surprise desserts. Sometimes it’s about combining a classic recipe with an unexpected flavor. Other times it’s about combining textures. Today’s dessert is called Cake with a Heart. It’s about getting one reaction out of your friends: “How did you do it?” It’s actually a fairly easy technique but no one will guess how you’ve done it. So just in time for Valentine’s Day, here is how to make a Cake with a Heart:
I am using 2 yellow cake mixes. Even though I am a fan of making everything from scratch, cakes from mixes rise a whole lot and that’s exactly what I needed for this project. You will understand why in a bit.
Start by preparing one of the mixes according to directions:
Add pink food coloring:
Grease a loaf pan. Fill with batter 2/3 of the way up (this cake will rise quite a bit. Bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Once the cake has baked and cooled, cut it into 1/2″ slices:
Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut one heart out of each slice, ends included:
Here is what you should have:
Resist the temptation to eat one of those hearts.
Prepare a second cake mix according to directions. No food coloring this time:
Grease a loaf pan and pour a little bit of that new batter at the bottom.
Then assemble the hearts into a row and place into the loaf pan:
Cover it all with some plain batter. Don’t pour all of it out of your cake will overflow. Just go up to the hearts and cover them:
That’s it! Bake for 45 minutes and you’re all done!
What a cool idea! This is a great dessert to make for a Valentines Day spent at home with family and kids. I am definitely going to try this. Thanks 🙂
That is such a nice idea! But isn’t the heart in the middle too dry ’cause of being baked twice?
Greets, Ramona
Hi Ramona,
The cake heart stays moist =)
Thank you for the fast answer, Francois 🙂