I have been chomping at the bit to get into Valentine’s food. I have always loved Valentine’s Day. It is such a happy occasion, just dwelling on love with the color pink abounding everywhere. Ever since I was a child I’ve relished creating Valentine’s cards with secret messages in conversation heart candies and hours of artistry ensuring no one was missed. There is a lot of Boulder Locavore love coming your way in the next few weeks and some fun surprises too so please stay tuned!
Sometime last fall a clever photo on Pinterest caught my attention. There was no corresponding recipe or article so I’m not even exactly sure what it was. It looked like maybe some seasonal bread with a spice bread pumpkin shape in the middle. I was instantly smitten. Loving anything ‘with a surprise inside’ I marveled at what a delight it would be to cut into a loaf of bread and find a pumpkin.*
As time goes, the whirlwind of the holidays whisked the image from my memory until recently when I was experimenting with some gluten free pound cake mixes. Though I love to make everything I can from scratch, it’s not always possible in the life of a busy mom-blogger. When I can I like to try out mixes so if I’m in a pinch I have a ‘go to’ selection and am not experimenting late the night before a special treat is due somewhere early the next day, knowing from experience not all gluten free mixes are created equal.
During my experimentation the bread-in-the-bread popped to mind again. I also have a passion for figuring things out, re-engineering and repurposing so decided to couple the two endeavors together to see if I couldn’t pull off a gluten free Valentines-themed surprise.
I’m NOT a fancy baker. I admire ‘Martha’ and the rest of the beautiful bakers out in cyberspace who create flawless confections that look to be made from porcelain but have come to terms with the fact that knack does not dwell actively (or dormantly) in my culinary DNA. I’m more of a rustic dessert girl. Being that as it is, I generally have low expectations that anything hinting at a fussy creation will work at my more broad-brush baking hand.
After carefully engineering what I hoped would be an unexpected, smile-invoking confection I crossed my fingers and pulled out the serrated knife. Mere words cannot express my excitement when cutting into the molten-brown, chocolately pound cake to reveal a brilliant fuchsia heart beaming from the center of every slice. I witnessed the magic of the surprise on the faces of my familial taste testers as well. As enchanting as is the visual is of this pound cake, the flavor is truly the star. Deep, dark chocolate enveloping a glorious cherry-flavored heart. Yin and yang, kismet, meant to be; two flavors comingled in their destiny to create a happy bite.
A whimsical Valentine's chocolate pound cake with a cherry-flavored heart hidden inside. Sure to surprise and delight all! Can be easily tailored to any dietary needs based on the recipe or mix you choose to use. Note: Cooking and preparation times are estimates; actual time will dependend on the recipes you select.
Ingredients
- Favorite Vanilla or Butter Pound Cake recipe or mix (1 loaf)*
- Favorite Chocolate Pound Cake recipe or mix (1 loaf)**
- 1/8 teaspoon Pink Food Coloring (I used Wilton Rose)
- ½ teaspoon – 1 tablespoon Natural Cherry Extract/Flavoring
- Heart-shaped Cookie Cutter (3 ½ inches at the widest spot by 3 inches tall)
- Serrated Knife
- Loaf pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to the temperature specified for the butter or vanilla pound cake.
- Assemble the vanilla pound cake per the recipe or mix directions. To make the brilliant fuchsia heart, add 1/8 teaspoon Wilton Rose coloring to the mix (if desiring a more tame pink, begin to add small amounts dipped from the container with a toothpick, mix and add more if needed; it is very concentrated coloring). Mix incorporating the color uniformly in the batter.
- Begin adding cherry flavoring by the ½ teaspoon until reaching desired flavor. Note: I used a natural Cherry flavoring and wanted a strong cherry flavor to stand up to the chocolate in the outer cake so ended up using 1 tablespoon.
- Pour batter into a prepared loaf pan. Bake as instructed in recipe or mix directions. Remove, cool and remove from the pan. Allow to cool completely.
- Reheat oven to specified temperature for the chocolate pound cake recipe or mix.
- Place cherry pound cake on a cutting board. Using the depth of the heart cookie cutter as a guide, cut the pound cake into slices the same thickness as the cookie cutter (e.g. my cookie cutter is 1 inch deep so I made slices that were 1 inch thick).
- Place each slice flat on the cutting board and using the cookie cutter cut one heart out of each slice. Set aside scraps.
- Butter a loaf pan the same size or larger than the pan used for the cherry pound cake. Place cherry pound cake hearts in the middle of the prepared pan; point down, back-to-back touching each other.
- Prepare the chocolate pound cake recipe or mix according to the directions.
- This step is easiest accomplished with a helper! Begin on one end of the loaf pan, with one person holding the hearts upright on their point, place a spoonful of batter on one side of the first heart and then a spoonful on the opposite of the first heart. Proceed up the pan in this manner until there is a small amount of batter on either side of all the hearts; this will stabilize the hearts and ensure they stay on their point during baking. Fill in the remaining batter on both sides and cover the top of the hearts. Note: the top may be rounded due to the shape of the top of the hearts.
- Bake the pound cake to the directions for the chocolate pound cake. Check for doneness earlier than suggested. Due to the pre-baked cherry pound cake center the pound cake may done earlier than if baking regularly.
- Remove from oven; allow to cool for 15-20 minutes in the pan on a cooling rack. Remove from pan and cool completely before slicing. Note: I found the gluten free pound cake sliced best after refrigerating. Can be kept in the refrigerator tightly wrapped for up to a week or frozen and then defrosted to be eaten at a later date.
- In the next Boulder Locavore post will be a recipe to use up the leftover scraps of the Cherry Pound Cake!
Notes
*{Gluten Free} For the Cherry Pound Cake I used Pamela’s Classic Vanilla Cake Mix prepared to the ‘Pamela’s Pound Cake’ instructions on the package.
**{Gluten Free} For the Chocolate Pound Cake I used Pamela’s Chocolate Cake Mix prepared to the ‘Pamela’s Decadent Chocolate Pound Cake’ instructions on the package.
*I love the way the internet works! I received a comment with a link to the original charming pumpkin CAKE (not bread, well it’s actually bread in the middle): Peekaboo Pumpkin Cake. What a fun full-circle moment. Click here to see the original inspiration for Hidden Heart Valentine’s Pound Cake. Fun to compare notes on the approach.
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THIS IS JUST THE CUTEST!!! It’s gorgeous. I looove it!
Thanks Kayle!
This is gorgeous Toni! Pinned!
Thank you Aimee! Coming from ‘the Master’ that is quite a compliment.
This is amazing! Looks really delicious!
Thanks Pola! Love something that looks good and tastes even better than that. Can’t beat pound cake!
This is brilliant. I can’t wait to make this. Keep the Valentine’s day love and creativity flowing.
The same whimsy as the Volcano Cake I think! I love making fun things like this and am glad you do too!
Wow, this is so pretty and impressive! I always wondered how to make a cake like this. Thanks for solving the mystery!
Thank you Colleen! I realized afterwards if you don’t care if the heart is on its point, you could also lay them on their sides, like ‘Lazy Heart Pound Cake’! I like them like them standing at attention though even though it’s a bit trickier to make.
I love the whimsy! My littlest’s birthday is next weekend and she wants lemon cupcakes, but I think I see a little birthday ‘surprise’ coming! What a fabulous idea!
And the possibilities are endless aren’t they? Pretty soon my family will not believe there is NOT something inside of the cake!
SO CUTE! This is such a great idea, love it!
Thanks Sara! It was really fun to make.
Toni, that is awfully impressive… and cute!
Thanks Sommer! It was really fun….especially when slicing into the pound cake to see it worked!
thank you for posting this! i saw the exact same picture of the pumpkin one. i had got to thinking a few weeks back on how i wanted to make that but for valentines day. pink heart and all. you read my mind! i have been trying to figure out how to make the hearts stand up on their own. this will help me when i go to make mine! so thank you for this!
This is such a cool idea! I might have to make this for my fiance
Thanks for sharing!
Adorable cake for Valentine’s Day!! Pinning now
Thank Marla!
Toni…so whimsical! Love it. Love your site!!! xoLexie
Thank you Lexie! I too love the whimsy and surprise of it!
You know I just couldn’t love this more, right?! xoxox
Awwww….thanks Katrina!
So pretty, very creative! Perfect surprise cake for a Valentine’s day.
Really impressive! Thanks so much for the tip! I’ll try it for sure!
Thank you Ana! It is like making a craft and baking all in one! Very fun to make with a great reward when it’s done!
Very nicely done, it looks perfect. Had no idea you could do this!
Thanks Sarah. This was a product of determination to figure it out and make it happen!
How adorable and delicious does that look! I can’t wait to make it and surprise my “valentine” birthday boy! Thank you for the wonderful idea.
I love that idea Sue! If he is anything like my tots, the surprise is almost better than the delicious cake!
Yea! I knew some crafty baker would take my idea and make it work for other holidays. This turned out wonderful! Love. Love. Love it. It’s been pinned a million different places on Pinterest, but the original Peekaboo Pumpkin Pound cake came from this post at SheKnows.com. http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/975551/pumpkin-pound-cake.
Fantastic job!
Thank you!! I found the pumpkin cake/bread so charming and was disappointed when I clicked for an original link and it went nowhere. Maybe for the best; I’d never copy someone else’s work and republish and this gave me the determination to figure out a gluten-free method to make something similar. When you say you knew some crafty baker would take your idea, are you SheKnows.com? I’ll go take a peek now. Would love to see how similar the approach was.
I have been searching for something to send to my grandaughters for valentines day and this looks perfect! Can you tell me where I can find chocolate pound cake mix ? The only brand my 2 local stores sell is a duncan hines regular pound cake mix.
Hi Christine. What a great surprise for your Granddaughter! I am gluten free so used the Pamela’s mixes cited in the recipe notes. They are regular cake mixes but provide preparation methods for pound cake. You might look at the mixes you found to see if they do the same or certainly if you have a scratch recipe you could use that as well!
I JUST had to find out how you made this, Toni! Beautifully executed, my friend…and so impressive!!!
Thanks Lizzy! A fun cross of baking, engineering and crafting I’d say. And fortunately one that worked the first time.
For those who don’t like chocolate cake, I want to see if this work the same with vanilla pound cake for both the heart and the surrounding cake.
Is it possible that the pink heart would tinge the white cake? I want the lines of the heart to stay clean if possible!
Sarah I have only made what I’ve shared here however since the inner pink heart is fully cooked when encased within the outer mix I would not think it would ‘bleed’ though could not say for sure.
Wow that’s simply briliant! will need to try it!
Thanks Kasia! I hope you will. I never thought baking a cake could be ‘thrilling’ but when you cut into this one, it is.
I love this and called my friend to send it to her for Valentine’s day. Awesome!
The only thing is, when I try to share this on Facebook it doesn’t come with a photo – I wonder why? Maybe the buttons or the post?
Tara
Thank you Tara! I think what you are describing is a Facebook glitch; I’ve had the same thing happen periodically myself. Maybe try again tomorrow? I’ve done nothing special to the post that would prohibit a thumbnail to pop up when you post the link.
Wow! This is so cool! And really, it doesn’t need to be valentine’s day to gift someone a cake with a heart inside
Please tell me you’re making truffles with the leftover scraps…
Nope; Cherry Pound Cake Bread Pudding (the next recipe posted)!
Cute idea! Did you ever try making one of each flavor, then cutting out the shape after slicing each, and inserting the heart on the plate? I know it wouldn’t hold together as nice as yours tho.
Cute idea Joa! Had not thought of that in my engineering quest to figure out how to make this cake happen but I love that idea; kind of ‘mix and match’ love.