Valentine's Day is a time to show off your ability to make some delicious sweets. That means you can use the day as an excuse to break out your baking pans, make decadently gorgeous treats, and of course, eat them!
And the crowning centerpiece for any Valentine's Day dessert table? A beautiful heart-shaped cake!
But if making fancy desserts sounds too daunting, never fear. There are so many neat tricks to creating almost-too-beautiful-to-eat sweets in a snap, using simple ingredients and materials that you likely already have.
These tricks allow ordinary cooks like you and me to create envelopes filled with cherry pie and make round cupcakes heart-shaped. It's all super easy!
This little baking hack allows you to make a perfectly heart-shaped cake in any flavor of your choosing, and you don't have to worry about it coming out lumpy or lopsided thanks to a simple trick.
All you'll need is one square baking pan, and one round baking pan with a matching diameter to the side of the square one.
Gather up the cake, frosting, and decorations that you love best, and get to baking! Your friends and relatives will be amazed at the perfect heart shape of this clever cake… but only you'll know the secret!
Step #1: Find Your Pans
To make a perfectly shaped heart cake free of lumpiness, unevenness, and other cake problems, you'll need two cake pans: one round and one square.
The measurement of the sides of the square pan should match the diameter of the round one.
So if your round pan has an 8-inch diameter, your square pan should be 8 x 8 inches.
The exact size doesn't matter, so long as the measurements match.
Step #2: Bake Your Cakes
Bake your cakes according to the recipe.
We used a simple white cake jazzed up with some pink food coloring, but feel free to make whatever cake you like best.
Step #3: Pop Your Cakes Out Of The Pans
After your cakes have cooled, pop them out of their pans on a counter.
Go slowly, otherwise they can break.
Step #4: Cut The Round Cake In Half
Cut the round cake in half to make two semicircles.
Be careful to cut it as evenly in half as possible, and to cut as straight a line as you can.
Step #5: Fit The Round Halves Against The Square Sides
And here's how you put together a heart!
Turn your square cake on an angle to make a diamond shape, and arrange the semicircles flush with the top two sides.
You'll get a perfect heart shape with minimal effort. How cool is that?
Step #6: Frost And Decorate
Now comes the fun part: decorating!
A nice, even layer of frosting will mask the seams where the two cakes meet. Let the frosting get to room temperature so it spreads more easily.
Again, you can do whatever you like with this, so go crazy!
We opted for vanilla icing and halved strawberries for a border, but you can express yourself creatively any way you like.
Step #7: Admire Your Beautiful Heart-Shaped Cake
Before serving it, step back and admire your work!
Without using any fancy pans, you've successfully created the perfect heart-shaped cake.
Step #8: Serve, Share, And Enjoy!
Now it's time to enjoy it!
This cake will be a bit large, and may not fit on a regular cake tray, so you might need something larger.
But this adorable treat probably won't last very long!
Now that you know this great baking secret, SHARE it with anyone else who loves to create memorable desserts with a fraction of the effort!
