The Valentine’s Day cake, I designed it just for this special day, when we all try to create something special for our significant other.
The recipe I propose is a chocolate cake that I make every now and then, a rather basic cake because I didn’t want to use a sponge base.
Like all filled desserts, they are obviously a bit caloric, but you must absolutely try a slice of this cake and above all make sure to impress the person you prepare it for.
I started the day before by making the cake and then did everything else the next day to avoid rushing.
The intent was to decorate the cake with red dollops, but I stopped at a pink gradient, to avoid that the coloring would leave a bad taste by overdoing the color intensity.
Even so, it looks great, and I’m sure you’ll be better than me, who, despite getting by in the kitchen, falls short when it comes to cake decoration.
Make it yourself and let me know!
About 610 Kcal per person
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10 people
- Cooking methods: Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Valentine's Day
Ingredients to make the Valentine’s Day Cake
- 4 eggs (medium)
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 1.25 cups whole milk
- 1 packet vanillin (or 1/2 teaspoon liquid vanilla)
- 1 and a 1/2 packets of baking powder
- 1 packet 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3.5 tbsp butter
- 3.5 oz dark chocolate 75% (chopped)
- 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 egg yolks (medium)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (or flour)
- 1 packet vanillin (or ½ teaspoon liquid vanilla)
- red food coloring powder
- 5 oz rum
- 1.7 oz water
- 5 oz whipping cream (hoplà)
- sugar paste
- red food coloring powder
Tools
- 1 Baking Pan heart-shaped
Preparation of the Valentine’s Day Cake
Preparation of the cream
In a saucepan, put the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla or vanillin, and half of the milk, mix well with a whisk, put on the stove on low heat, add the remaining milk and continue cooking, stirring often.
When cooking is complete, add the red food coloring to the desired shade and blend well with the whisk to achieve a uniform color.
At this point, pour the cream into a container and cover it with plastic wrap in direct contact with the cream to prevent a crust from forming on the surface.
Let it cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or if you’re in a hurry, half an hour in the freezer will be fine.
Preparation of the cake
Take the hand mixer and combine the eggs and sugar, work at high speed until a fluffy mixture is formed.
Then add the other ingredients and melt the dark chocolate in the microwave with a splash of rum or water and add it to the mixture.
Combine everything a little at a time, stirring everything at low speed and finally complete with the flour.
Butter and flour a heart-shaped pan about 10 inches in diameter and pour in the mixture, bake in a hot oven at 350°F for about 45 minutes.
Let the cake cool, then transfer it to a serving plate, slice it horizontally in half, and soak the inside of the two hearts with the rum and water mixture.
Fill the heart already positioned on the plate with the colored cream, cover with the other moistened heart, and place in the fridge to set for at least an hour.
After the time has passed, roll out the sugar paste, thin but not too thin, otherwise it tends to crack, I had some mishaps.
Then whip the cream very firmly with the food coloring, put it in a piping bag with a medium star tip, and form the decoration dollops on the cake
The idea was to make the cream red and the whipped cream too, but since I was afraid the coloring would be too noticeable once tasted (this happened to me in the past), I stopped at pink.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
