10 Oct 2015

Surprise Inside Heart Cake | Hidden Heart Cake

I wanted to make this cake for Valentine's cake this year but ended up making these cute edible chocolate cups with strawberry mousse instead! Then I wanted to make this cake for our wedding anniversary but again ended up making this rich and moist quadruple chocolate cake instead!
So finally I made this cake when there was no occasion to celebrate but then again, you don't need a special occasion to celebrate love!!  

The best part about this cake is that, no one can tell there is something hidden inside the cake! The surprise on my husband's face when I made him cut the cake, was very satisfying for me! 
The only thing I did not like about this cake, was that, there is too much of wastage! Almost half of the cake baked for the heart shape goes waste. You can choose to make cake pops or truffles.

Hidden Heart Cake


And if you're not big on using colour's then skip the red color and keep the hearts white. The white hearts will still stand out against the dark brown chocolate cake. Or you can use a little less red color and make it a pink heart. 

One of the concerns in baking this cake is that, since the heart cake is baked twice, it can get a bit dry. But this is a good pound cake recipe and if you don't over bake, then it will not go dry. I adapted this recipe from my chocolate chip pound cake recipe.

The chocolate batter should preferably be a pound cake batter, only then the hearts placed inside will not move and will stand in place. Otherwise, by the time the cake is done, the hearts will be in some corner of the pan.

This recipe is for a 9*5*3 inch loaf pan. If you use a smaller pan, then your batter will overflow.


Hidden Heart Cake


HIDDEN HEART CAKE 

For the red heart cake
Preparation time 15 mins | Baking time 50-60 mins

Ingredients
  • All purpose flour (maida) - 2 cups (240 gms)
  • Baking powder - 1 tsp
  • Butter - 225 gms / 1 cup / 2 sticks
  • Granulated sugar - 1 cup (200 gms)
  • Eggs - 4 large
  • Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
  • Salt - 3/4 tsp
  • Americolor super red - 1/2 tsp

Method
1. Pre heat the oven to 180 C/350 F. Grease and line a 9*5*3 loaf pan. 
2. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy.



3. Add the eggs one or two at a time, along with vanilla and beat again. Scrape the bowl after each addition.



4. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Or pre sift and add. Add little by little and fold gently. The batter will be very thick, that's how pound cake batter's are.



5. Add the red color and beat again lightly until the color is mixed well to the batter. 
6. Transfer the batter to the loaf pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes.



7. The cake is done when a tooth pick or skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.


Hidden Heart Cake


Once the cake is completely cool, cling wrap the cake and keep it in the refrigerator until we start the chocolate cake. 




Before starting the chocolate cake, remove the red cake from the refrigerator and slice the cake evenly. Take a heart mould and cut out hearts from each slice of the cake. I got 15 hearts totally. Set this aside.


Hidden Heart Cake


For the chocolate cake
Preparation time 15 mins | Baking time 50-60 mins

Ingredients
  • All purpose flour (maida) - 1.5 cups 
  • Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
  • Baking powder - 1 tsp
  • Butter - 225 gms / 1 cup / 2 sticks
  • Granulated sugar - 1 and 1/4 cup 
  • Eggs - 4 large
  • Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
  • Salt - 3/4 tsp
  • Instant coffee granules - 1/2 tsp

Method
1. Pre heat the oven to 180 C/350 F. Grease and line a 9*5*3 loaf pan or a slightly larger loaf pan. 
2. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy.



3. Add the eggs one or two at a time, along with vanilla and beat again. Scrape the bowl after each addition.
4. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, coffee granules and salt. Or pre sift and add. Add little by little and fold gently. 



5.Fill 1/4 of the greased loaf pan with the chocolate batter and tap well to even it out.
6. Now place the hearts next to each other. Pack them close. Leave a bit of gap at both corners for the chocolate batters to flow through and hide the hearts.



7. After the hearts are placed, add the remaining chocolate batter over the hearts and around the hearts.
8. Fill the pan, and tap gently so that the batter flows all around the hearts.



9. Bake in the pre heated oven for 50-60 mins.
10. The cake is done when a tooth pick or skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.

Frost the cake as you wish. You can use a thick ganache over the loaf. I used only a chocolate glaze to pour over the loaf cake.


Hidden Heart Cake

Notes
1. You can use any other shape other than hearts. I am planning to do some mickey shapes or animal shapes for my kids.
2. As mentioned earlier, skip the red color if you're not keen on using colors.
3. Use a good quality cocoa powder. Only then you will get a dark brown chocolate cake and then the hearts will stand out against the dark background.
4. Please note - This recipe is for a 9*5*3 inch loaf pan or a slightly larger loaf pan. If you use a smaller pan, then your batter will overflow.
5. You need to tap the pan against the counter since this is a thick batter, it has to flow well between and around the hearts. But if you bang too much, your hearts will get displaced. So be gentle yet firm when you tap the pan.
6. I used granulated sugar. After measuring I pulsed it in a blender to help dissolve easily. 
7. Leaving the red cake in the refrigerator helps when you cut out the heart shapes. You will get clean cuts without any crumbs.
8. I got a total of 15 hearts and used 14 hearts totally.


Until next time,
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28 comments:

  1. 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖👍👍👍👍👍👎

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  2. Can I use ur eggless butterless recipe for the chocolate cake

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    Replies
    1. This works best with a pound cake batter. It's better if the batter is thick so that the hearts won't move around. But you can try.

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  3. An open gem this cake is. Truly impressive.

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  4. wow..awesome dear...i loved d way u presented...totally big claps..

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  5. Wow super, Thanks for sharing

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  6. Looks really neat dear! Even I have been wanting to make this but this one is just one among the many... so well made...

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  7. Totally awesome beulah..wonderful cake dear

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  8. Awesome dear.......you have done it so beautifully.......looks damn good

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  9. wow its amazing, but I have a query.As the heart cake is baked twice, so does this affect the heart cake? becoming hard like a toast?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you :) I have already addressed this issue, kindly read through the entire post.

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  10. Thank you for this lovely recipe Beulah! I made this for Valentine's yesterday. I didn't use colour, so off-white-chocolate combo and also halved the vanilla cake recipe and cut it horizontally to reduce waste...got 12 hearts. It was perfect & tasted yumm...thanks again!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kanika, thank you for the feedback! Glad you liked the cake :)

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  11. your recipe is awesome..thank you!
    I baked it on our wedding anniversary and surprised my husband.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Vienna, glad you liked it :) Belated anniversary wishes!!

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  12. Hey I tried your recipe, but my heart cake started floating on chocolate cake,Please help me if you can. What I did wrong? I took proper measurements :((((
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your chocolate cake batter should be thick otherwise the hearts will move about. That is why I have used a pound cake recipe.

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  13. Thank you for sharing this cute idea! It's easier than I think. Gonna make it for this Valentine's Day.

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  14. Hi Beaulah,

    Thanks for the recipe..tried with same measurements and came out well

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  15. mam your cakes are awesome..... will you pl suggest on eggless version

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! You can try this with any eggless recipe, just make sure the batter is not very thin. I prefer a pound cake recipe as the batter will be thick.

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  16. Thoroughly impressed with this cake Beulah.

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