Heart Cake

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, and you know what that means: an excuse to enjoy delicious treats! We’re not just talking about a boring box of drugstore chocolates, either. No, this Valentine’s Day, we’re whipping a treat that screams “Made With Love”: a Heart Cake!

The best thing about this cake? You don’t have to be a master baker to make it. All you need are your favorite cake recipe, your favorite buttercream, basic round and square cake pans, and our video tutorial! The way to make it involves a simple smart hack you’re going to love. Check it out, then read on for the full step-by-step instructions to try it out yourself!

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Heart Cake

Makes 1 12-inch cake
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 box chocolate cake mix (or your favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe)
  • 1 – 8-inch square cake pan
  • 1 – 8-inch round cake pan
  • Buttercream frosting, store bought or homemade
  • Red food coloring (optional)
  • Sprinkles (optional)
  • Decorating icing gel (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to the temperature directed by the cake mix box or your recipe. Grease both the 8-inch square cake ban and the 8-inch round cake pan.
  2. Prepare the cake batter according to the directions on the cake mix box, or according to your recipe.
  3. Take half of the prepared cake batter and place it in the greased 8-inch round cake pan. Take the second half of the prepared cake batter and place it in the greased 8-inch square cake pan. Bake both cakes in the preheated oven according to the directions on the box of cake mix you used or your recipe, until the cakes are completely baked.
  4. Allow both cakes to cool completely. Remove the cooled cakes from the cake pans. If needed, use a serrated knife to level the top of each cake.
  5. Cut the round cake in half, creating 2 semicircles of cake.
  6. Orient the square cake so that it looks like a diamond shape, with two corners pointing at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock. Add the two semicircles to the top two adjacent sides of the diamond, with the rounded sides facing outward, to create a heart shape.
  7. Add the red food coloring to the buttercream frosting to color the buttercream pink or red, if desired.
  8. Apply a thin layer of the frosting to the cake as a “crumb coat.” Chill the cake for 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator to allow this first layer of frosting time to stiffen.
  9. Remove the chilled cake from the refrigerator and apply a second, thicker layer of frosting. Decorate the cake with sprinkles, if using.
  10. If desired, put some additional buttercream or decorating icing/gel in a pastry bag fitted with a small tip and write a short love note on the cake.

Chef’s Tips

  • When you assemble the square cake and the halved circle cake into a heart shape in step 6, you may want to add frosting to the crevices to keep your heart from breaking or separating.
  • The “crumb coat” applied in step 8 helps to prevent the crumbs from showing through the frosting on the finished cake— hence the name!

Sweet and simple! We just love that you can get the perfect Valentine’s Day dessert without having to buy a specialty cake pan or being a master baker. You can just use the basic cake pans you already have!

So what do you think of our easy-to-make heart cake? Have you ever tried this trick before? Will you be giving it a try this Valentine’s Day? Do you think you’ll stick with chocolate cake and pink icing, or will your heart be different colors? Let us know what you do and how it turns out for you!