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Butter up your Valentine with a vintage heart cake: A pro baker shows you how
With the right tools, it's easier to whip up this viral treat than you might think.
A box of chocolates is nice and a dozen roses are delightful, but in my opinion? Nothing says "I love you" quite like a homemade Valentine's Day gift. A homemade gift that's edible, to be precise. Sure, I might be biased because I'm a professional baker with a sweet tooth as big as the Empire State Building, but I'm sure many of you know someone who'd appreciate a custom treat as well — and few things impress like a gorgeous heart-shaped layer cake.
You know what I mean — the elaborately decked-out creation that's taken social media by storm over the past few years. And while this type of cake looks complex, it's possible to make one at home if you have the right tools. Nope, a heart-shaped cake pan is not one of them. Don't believe me? Well, I went ahead and filmed each step of the process to show you how to go about constructing and decorating one of these beauties. It's not the shortest process, but it's not the most complicated either. And as far as perfection is concerned, I say forget it! If it's true love, they'll just be happy you took the time to make them something.
Even if you're not planning to give this treat as a gift, I find cake decorating to be a very therapeutic activity on a cold afternoon — and this season's full of those. So why not let your artistic side shine in cake form? The worst that could happen is that it looks messy. But it will still be delicious.
How to make a heart-shaped layer cake
As I mentioned earlier, there's no need to buy a heart-shaped cake pan for this — I actually prefer starting with round cakes because they allow me to control the final shape. Begin with your cake mix or recipe of choice. Once you've baked and cooled your cake layers (I used two here, but feel free to use however many you'd like!), you'll take a knife and lightly score each layer, as I do in the video below.
Once that's done, you'll slice all the way through the cake using the last two lines you made as a guide, and those extra pieces will be the "ears" of your heart. Repeat with all of your layers, then stack them atop one another.
Press one of the "ears" along one of the curved sides of the heart to use as a guide, and score a small line as shown below. Do the same to the other side, then cut all the way through. Remove the cake from this area, and you should be left with a V-shaped cutout. This excess cake won't be used later on — chef's snack!
What I use:
These tins are my pan of choice when I'm making round layer cakes — they're durable, bake evenly and are super easy to clean. I recommend having at least two on hand so you can bake multiple layers at the same time.
Now we'll start to assemble the cake — for this, I like using a turntable, as it makes applying and smoothing out frosting easier. I place a dab of frosting in the middle of the turntable, then lay a cardboard cake round on top. The frosting acts like glue to keep the round in place, and the round itself makes removing the cake from the turntable much easier. Once that's done, I dab some frosting in the middle of the round to keep the cake from sliding around, then place my first cake layer on top.
What I use:
My first cake stand was a flimsy plastic one — I much prefer this heavy-duty aluminum stand, because I never worry about it tipping over. It also spins like a dream, allowing me to smooth out my frosting with less effort.
I always have a stash of these in my cabinet — as mentioned, they make lifting your cake from the turntable a breeze, and because they're completely flat (unlike rimmed plates), I can get my frosting scraper around the cake without any issues while I'm smoothing things out.
Next, we've got to attach those "ears" to the sides of the cake to round things out. I fill a piping bag with some frosting, which, again, will act like glue to keep things secure. I fit the bag with a round tip, then apply pressure to the bag to release the frosting and coat each of the curved sides. Then, I take one "ear" and gently press it against one frosted area to stick it to the cake. Repeat on the other side.
What I use:
This brand specializes in cake-making accessories, and these bags haven't let me down yet. They're quite puncture-resistant, and you can fit a good amount of frosting in them. Use 'em for filling doughnuts, deviled eggs and more.
After the "ears" have been attached, it's time for filling. You can use frosting, jam, ganache ... just make sure whatever it is isn't too runny. For this cake, I used raspberry jam. To keep the jam from leaking out the sides of the cake, I used my piping bag to pipe a rim of frosting around the edge. Once the filling's all set, gently place your second cake layer on top, then repeat the step of attaching the "ears" from before.
Alright, crumb coat time! True to its name, crumb coat is a light layer of frosting that helps seal in any loose crumbs so they don't wind up on the outside of your cake. (It looks much neater this way.) The crumb coat doesn't have to be perfect, since we're going to cover it up. I like to apply frosting with an offset spatula, and just make sure I cover the whole cake.
What I use:
It might look unassuming, but an offset spatula is one of my most-reached-for baking tools. Because the blade is placed slightly lower than the handle, it provides a better angle when you're smoothing things out, whether its frosting or batter.
While the crumb coat doesn't have to look perfect, it's much easier to work off of if you have a smoother base. To smooth things out, I use a cake scraper.
After you've applied your crumb coat, place your cake in the fridge for around 30 minutes to let the frosting firm up. Then, remove it from the fridge and apply your top layer of frosting. I like to go thicker with this coat, as I find it allows me to achieve a smoother finish. Again, a cake scraper is your best friend! And pro tip: If you're having trouble removing little air pockets from your frosting, run your scraper under hot water and then try smoothing things out again — it works really well.
What I use:
The larger, rectangular scraper is the one I use for smoothing out frosting — the straight side, of course! That said, the ridges allow you to etch different shapes and patterns into the frosting if it's a more textured look you're going for.
Alright, now for the fun part — decorating! Having an assortment of piping tips to use in your piping bag allows you to play around with different shapes and textures. Piping also lets you cover up any imperfections, and if you chill your cake before you start, it'll be easy to remove any piping mistakes without leaving evidence behind. The piped frosting will wipe right off of the chilled frosting under it. Again, perfection is overrated; just have fun!
What I use:
This kit comes with a dozen of the tips I use most often while decorating, as well as a reusable piping bag and a coupler. Couplers are an absolute lifesaver when you're piping different shapes with the same frosting, as they allow you to swap out the piping tip without having to switch piping bags. Genius, I tell ya!
With this kit, you can pipe lettering, flowers, leaves and all sorts of shapes. In fact, all of the piping on my heart cake was done using tips from this set.
See, that wasn't so hard, was it? My Valentine approves!
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