Vanilla Heart Cakes With Rosewater Icing Recipes

EASY HEART-SHAPED CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8-inch square pan and an 8-inch round pan. Line bottoms with parchment or wax paper. Grease paper and dust lightly with flour.
• Beat white sugar, butter, vanilla, and almond extract in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until well combined.
• Stir flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together in another bowl.
• Beat 1 cup dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Add 1/2 cup milk; beat until combined. Continue adding 1 cup dry ingredients and 1/2 cup milk, beating after each addition, until all are used and batter is smooth. Divide evenly between the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on racks.
• Beat butter and vanilla together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating after each addition and adding milk as needed, until frosting is fluffy, smooth, and spreadable.
• Remove 1/3 cup frosting and divide between 2 small bowls. Tint 1 dark pink with red food coloring. Tint the other orange-pink with red and yellow food coloring. Tint remaining frosting light pink with red food coloring.
• Set square cake on a work surface and rotate 45 degrees so that it resembles a diamond. Spread a little light pink frosting on left and right top sides of the diamond. Cut round cake in half crosswise to make 2 half-moons. Attach half-moons to top left and top right sides of diamond, gently pressing cake pieces together to adhere. Spread remaining light pink frosting over the assembled cake. Drop spoonfuls of dark pink and pink-orange frosting onto cake. Drag an offset spatula through frosting to create a marbled look.
• Pat sprinkles onto the sides of the cake. Chill, covered, for up to 3 days. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before slicing into 16 pieces.

VANILLA HEART-SHAPED CAKE WITH RASPBERRY-AND-CUSTARD-FILLING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread coconut in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry but not browning, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely on sheet.
• Increase oven temperature to 350°F. Butter a 10-by-2-inch heart-shaped cake pan (see cook's note for product link). Line bottom with parchment, butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a heatproof bowl set over (but not in) a pot of simmering water, whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla seeds until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm. Remove from pot and beat on high speed until thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Add flour mixture; whisk just to combine. Add butter; whisk to combine. Add crème fraîche, milk, and vanilla extract; whisk to combine.
• Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top, and bake until top springs back when lightly touched and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes, then invert onto rack, remove parchment, and let cool completely. Cake can be made ahead to this point, wrapped in plastic, and stored at room temperature up to 1 day.
• Whisk pastry cream to lighten, then whisk heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream into pastry cream. Using a serrated knife, split cake in half horizontally. Use a 4 1/2-to-5-inch heart-shaped cutter to cut out center of bottom layer. Spread a thin layer of cream mixture (about 1 cup) over other (uncut) layer, then arrange about 2 3/4 cups berries over cream, covering entire layer.
• Dollop about 1 1/2 cups more cream mixture over berries, spreading with an offset spatula to cover. Place cut-out layer on top, bottom-side up. Fill heart-shaped hollow with remaining cream mixture. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or, covered, up to 24 hours.
• Frost top and sides of cake with crème-fraîche whipped cream. Sprinkle border with coconut. Arrange remaining 1 1/4 cups berries over cream mixture in heart-shaped hollow. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or, covered, up to 8 hours.

VANILLA HEART CAKES WITH ROSEWATER ICING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Lightly grease a 20cmx30cm cake tin and line with non-stick baking paper. Spread the cake batter into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Place the sugar, rosewater and water in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Use an 8cm heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut hearts from the cake. Spoon over the icing and top with petals. Refrigerate until just set.