When the heart craves a cake...

Valentine´s day is just a couple of days away and I was wondering how and if my lovely readers plan on celebrating it? For us, it is usually not too big of a deal - just another ordinary day where my husband would be at work all day and I might cook him something nice in the evening and then he would take me out for a brownie afterwards. No romantic date, exclusive gift exchanges, exaggerated and unachieveable promises or what so ever (we save that all for our anniversary, ofcourse:p).

But just in case you are planning on paying a tribute to the great Saint Valentines on the coming 14th, I have a sweet idea for you to celebrate it with your loved ones.

Just came across this brilliant technique on "Butter Hearts Sugar" a few weeks ago and decided to try it. Instead of following the Orange Coconut Cake recipe that Kara has used for her cake, I went for a new lemon pound which was a total disaster, so much so that even my darling Valentine couldnt resist saying, "Why do you have to test everything on me first?", from which I concluded that it would be wise to not share it here and save you the disappointment, money and time that I endured.

But since the idea of hearts inside the cake itself is so cute and worth trying, here are two of my favourite recipes that you might like to use or you can make any of your favourite plain cakes, just make sure that the batter is enough to make the hearts and cover them later.

Prepare the cake mixture as usual. Take out 1/3 of the batter into a smaller bowl.

Add in red food colouring to the smaller portion. Pour this mixture into a square or rectangular pan, (greased and lined, ofcourse).

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 15- 20 minutes or until the tooth pick comes out clean. Take out of the oven and allow to cool a bit in the pan. Then slide onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Cut out hearts using a cookie cutter (I am using a piece of my sons puzzle:p. There is nothing wrong in using your imagination at times, will save you not only money but also some space in your kitchen cabinets).

Pour half of the remaining cake batter into a loaf tin and arrange the cake hearts in the centre. Tip: This part was a bit tricky, dont give up in case the hearts start falling in where you dont want them to:)

Pour over rest of the batter carefully. Tip: Dont worry if it doesnt cover all the hearts. The cake will rise while baking (hopefully!!!).

Bake in preheated oven as per recipe directions.

Remove the lining and allow to cool completely. This looks ugly, I know. But wait until you see how Im going to cover it with the magic dust.

Icing sugar is so sweet and helping, no???

Let your heart finds its way to those who need it most....

P.S. In case you dont know how to melt someone´s heart with a cheese cake, click here!


May the love you show to others return to you multiplied, have a great day you all!!!!

Love