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Valentines Cake
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Hidden Heart Valentine’s Pound Cake

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.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes
Servings 10
Calories 173kcal
Author Toni Dash

Ingredients

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’ gel food coloring)
  • ½-3 teaspoons Cherry Extract flavor to taste

Supplies:

  • 1 Heart-shaped Cookie Cutter (3 ½ inches at the widest spot by 3 inches tall)
  • 1 Serrated Knife
  • 1-2 Loaf pans

Instructions

Making the Pink Pound Cake

  • Preheat oven to the temperature specified for the butter or vanilla pound cake.
  • Assemble the vanilla pound cake per the recipe or mix directions.
  • ADDING THE COLOR. To make the brilliant fuchsia-colored 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.
  • ADDING THE FLAVORING. 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.

Cutting Pink Cake Hearts

  • 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.

Making the Hidden Heart Cake

  • Prepare the chocolate pound cake recipe or mix according to the directions. Spoon a very small amount into the prepared loaf pan (enough just to cover the bottom).
  • Place cherry pound cake hearts in the middle of the prepared pan; point down, back-to-back touching each other.
  • 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 mix directions for the chocolate pound cake. Check for doneness earlier than suggested. NOTE: 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.

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.
Cooking Times: Cooking and preparation times are estimates; actual time will depend on the recipes you select.

Nutrition

Calories: 173kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 321mg | Potassium: 59mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 90IU | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1.6mg