Heart Cake

This heart cake recipe is a red velvet cake that is shaped like a heart, and topped with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. An easy and elegant dessert that's perfect for Valentine's Day!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 1

Decorating & Chilling Time 1 30

Total Time 3 15

Servings

Calories 522kcal

Author Sara Welch

Equipment

2 9 inch round cake pans
2 cake baking strips
1 stand mixer or electric mixer
1 whisk or hand blender
1 cake leveler
1 cake stand I used a 14 inch stand
2 piping tips large round and large star
2 piping bags

Ingredients

For the cake

3½ cups all purpose flour
⅓ cup cocoa powder
1¼ teaspoons baking powder
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1¼ teaspoons salt
2⅔ cups granulated sugar
1¼ cups buttermilk
1¼ cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
2½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1¼ teaspoons distilled white vinegar
1¼ teaspoons instant coffee dissolved in ⅔ cup hot water
2 tablespoons red gel food coloring I used Americolor Super Red
cooking spray

For the frosting

2½ cups unsalted butter cubed and softened
2½ teaspoons vanilla extract
9 cups powdered sugar
20 ounces cream cheese cubed and softened

For garnish

½ cup sprinkles I used red and pink hearts, pearls and jimmies

Instructions

For the cake

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Coat two 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Soak the cake baking strips in water.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of a mixer, then stir in the sugar.
In a separate bowl, use a whisk or hand blender to combine the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, vinegar, diluted coffee, and red food coloring. If desired, add more food coloring for a more intense red color.
Turn the mixer to low speed. Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the mixture is just combined. Be careful not to overmix your batter.
Pour the batter evenly between the two pans. You can use a kitchen scale to measure the pans to make sure they have the same amount of batter.
Squeeze out the excess water from the baking strips and secure then around the cake pans.
Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until the cakes are springy to touch and a toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached.
Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then carefully invert the cakes onto a cooling rack, and cool completely.

For the frosting

Beat the butter and vanilla extract together with a stand mixer or electric mixer for 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until everything is combined.
In a separate bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. This step ensures there are no lumps of cream cheese in the frosting.
Add the cream cheese to the frosting mixture and beat until combined. It should be smooth and creamy and have a medium-thick consistency. Set aside 1 ½ cups to pipe a border on the cake.

For the heart shape

Trim the tops off the cakes with a large, serrated knife or cake leveler to create flat, even layers.
Place one cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate close to the bottom edge. Pipe a thin layer of frosting over the cake layer, then add the second layer on top.
To create the heart shape, use a large, serrated knife to score a cross on the top of the cake.
On each side, cut a wedge from the cake diagonally from the bottom point to the horizontal point on each side.
Turn the wedges on their sides with the cut side facing upwards. Pipe frosting onto them, then press each firmly onto the top side of the cake to form the mounds of the heart. If desired, cut a small ‘v’ into the cake between the mounds to accentuate the shape.
Use an offset spatula to apply a crumb coat to the cake. Chill for 30 minutes. This helps to prevent any red crumbs in the final layer of frosting and provides a firm base to apply the frosting.

For the decorating

Pipe more frosting onto the top and sides of the cake and use a cake scraper to create a smooth finish.
Place a large star nozzle into a piping bag and fill with the reserved frosting.
On the top of the cake, pipe a bulb of frosting at the top of one of the mounds and ease the nozzle back diagonally to form a tail. Position the nozzle slightly lower than the first and pipe another bulb and pull back to create another tail. Continue to pipe a border around the top of one side of the cake ensuring each bulb just touches the previous bulb. Repeat on the other side.
Decorate as desired with sprinkles, then cut into slices, and serve.

Notes

As the frosting contains cream cheese, keep the cake refrigerated for up to 3 days until required. The cake is best enjoyed at room temperature so one to two hours before serving, remove from the refrigerator.
Chilling the cake at intervals in the refrigerator or freezer will help to create a smooth finish. If preferred, create a textured finish with the off-set spatula.

Nutrition