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A Heart-Filled Cake for a Heartful Valentine’s Day

February 7, 2020

Credit: Tasty

A delicious strawberry cake with a lovely little surprise in the middle.

Serves 8
Ingredients

CAKE

  •  2 loaves vanilla pound cake
  •  16 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
  •  1 ½ cups sugar
  •  ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  •  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  •  3 large eggs
  •  3 cups all-purpose flour
  •  2 teaspoons baking soda
  •  ½ cup whole milk
  •  ½ cup strawberry puree
  •  nonstick cooking spray

VANILLA SIMPLE SYRUP

  •  ¼ cup water
  •  ¼ cup sugar
  •  ½ tablespoon vanilla extract

WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

  •  1 cup white chocolate chip
  •  ½ cup heavy cream hot

FOR DECORATING

  •  red sprinkle
  •  pink heart sprinkle

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

  •  heart shaped cookie cutter

Instructions

  1. Crank the oven up to 350°F.

  2. Cut the ends off the pound cakes, then slice them so they’re equally as thick as the cookie cutter.

  3. Using the cookie cutter, remove the centers from the cake slices to make hearts. Set the hearts aside. You can ditch the scraps, or save them for something else.

  4. In a big bowl, use an electric hand mixer to cream the butter, sugar, and salt. Do this for 4 minutes, or until it’s fluffy. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl down.

  5. Add in the vanilla and eggs, 1 at a time, and make sure to beat ’em to incorporate before adding the next. Give the bowl sides another scraping.

  6. Sift the flour and baking soda into the bowl, then use a rubber spatula to fold and incorporate.

  7. Hit the mix with the hand mixer again while streaming in the milk. Keep beating until it’s just incorporated, then add the strawberry puree and beat it again to combine.

  8. Grease up a bundt pan with a nonstick spray.

  9. Add 2 cups of your cake batter to the pan, then smooth it down with a spatula. Place the hearts you made around the pan with the points up, submerging them in the batter by about ½ inch (1 ¼ cm.) Add the rest of the batter in. Gently tap the pan against a solid surface a couple of times to get rid of any air bubbles.

  10. Bake the pan for 45 minutes. You’re ready for action when you can stick a toothpick in and pull it out clean. Let the cake cool for 30 minutes, then invert it onto a wire rack set over a baking sheet.

  11. Now let’s make that syrup: In a small saucepan on medium heat, combine the water, sugar, and vanilla. Cook that stuff until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is gently boiling. Take it off the heat and let it cool.

  12. Next, the ganache: In a medium bowl, pour your heavy cream over the white chocolate chips. Whisk that stuff until it’s a nice, smooth mixture.

  13. Let’s put it all together! Poke holes all over the cake with a skewer, then brush the surface with the syrup.

  14. Pour your ganache over the cake and decorate with sprinkles.

  15. All done! When you slice the cake, you should see the hearts on the inside. Lovely!

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