WHAT’S AN EASY HOLIDAY CAKE?

I wanted to try to make a heart shaped cake for Valentine’s Day, but I also didn’t want to go out and spend money on a new heart shaped cake pan that I will use 3 times a year. Maybe. 

So, thanks to Pinterest, I am passing on the heart shaped cake tutorial. Which is so ridiculously easy, I am ashamed I didn’t think of it myself a long time ago. Shapes and angles have never been a strong skill set for me. However, making vanilla buttercream frosting and being able to rationalize a reason for buying a new pair of shoes are definitely in my wheelhouse. 

First up, make a cake. I used my chocolate cake recipe, but you can use any kind of cake your little heart desires. Here are the links to my vanilla cake recipe and my red velvet cake recipe. You will need a square and a round cake pan and will need to make 2 batches of cake batter, one for each shape pan. 

Once cooled, I leveled off each cake to make them even on top using a serrated knife. Next, cut the round cake in half.

Now place each half onto a long end of the square cake. Voila. Heart shaped cake. Seriously, that easy.

Frost your cake and decorate. When frosting a cake, I do a crumb coat. A crumb coat is just a thin layer of frosting you put on the cake, nothing pretty or final.  Then let it set or refrigerate until hard. Once set, then you can frost your cake again with the final and pretty layer. This first layer collects all the crumbs that can get into the frosting and allows the second layer of frosting to go on smooth and pretty without crumbs.

Instant pretty heart. How easy was that?