KISS ME, SWEET TALK, BE MINE, HUG ME, TRUE LOVE, SOUL MATE
When you were a kid (unless you are my age maybe you didn’t do this) didn’t you just love Valentine’s Day. You got to make your special box to take to school so everyone could deposit a valentine card in it as you munched on treats during your Valentine party that your room moms tried to make so special. Not sure if they do parties these days. And I’m sure the kids would not be munching on cupcakes, candy, red punch etc. that we stuffed our cute little faces with; we’re still alive and it sure didn’t hurt us any.
I remember how special my valentine box was one year. My sister and I covered our boxes with crepe paper and then our mother would take strips of crepe paper and sew gathering stitches. We would then draw the long strips up into ruffles that we would glue around the boxes. How pretty they turned out and we were always so excited to go to school the next day to see what everyone else’s looked like. I wonder if kids these days still make valentine boxes.
All this Valentine talk got me to looking for something different to make for Valentine’s Day. I came across this idea at Very Culinary. I loved the idea of putting the hearts in the middle of the pound cake but I did not want to use a box pound cake. Why pay for a mix when you can make it twice as good (at least) from scratch. If you are in a pinch for time look at her recipe and go by her directions. She used two boxes of Betty Crocker pound cake. Take a look at Seeknows.com her recipe using pumpkin bread for the inside and pound cake on the outside. I listed her frosting at the bottom of the page which is the one I used except for browning the butter. It is a fluffyier looking frosting that the glaze from Very Culinary. I tinted mine pink for Valentine’s Day. I also did Very Culinary’s glaze on one of the cakes.
I decided to use my nephew’s wife’s (Julie) recipe for her delicious pound cake. I knew I wanted two cakes so I made one recipe, dyed it pink (should have dyed darker) and put that one recipe into two bread pans. Then I made another recipe and left it white and that was what encased the pink hearts into the center of the loaf. So, if you want easy, buy 2 boxes cake mix, make one pink and one white then follow directions at Very Culinary’s site.
Also, I have seen other sites where the person used a pumpkin for fall, clover leaf for st. pat’s and you could also just do a pretty flower cookie cutter for a flower center.
What I learned from doing this: FIRST, if you want a delicious pound cake, make this and bake in a bundt pan. Second, if you want to make a cute cake with cut-outs in the center, then buy 2 boxed pound cakes at under $2 each. I ended up making two of this poundcake recipe and was in the kitchen all afternoon into the night. Other things I would do next time — dye the center cut outs a darker color. I thought I had my pink dark but with the pink frosting they didn’t show up much. Also, I put too much batter in the bottom of the pan making the hearts too close to the top. I did the thinnest of layers of batter in the bottom but I guess that was too much. One of the sites showed just putting the cutouts on the bottom with no batter beneath it. I would also use a smaller cut-out so you have more of the white batter on the sides. My heart cutter came almost to the sides of the pan and I have big loaf pans.
Tint one cake mix pink. Do it darker than the above picture because the end results ended up much lighter than I anticipated.
Cut slices and then using cutter, cut out shapes.
Put a tiny bit of batter on bottom of pan (see note) or not then line up your cut-out shapes, fill in with the white batter around cut-outs.
Cover the heart cut-outs with white batter.
This is the frosting from sheknows.com
This frosting is from veryculinary.com
Looks like I put too put batter in the bottom. I actually barely spread the batter on bottom of pan, so be careful not to get too much because it makes the hearts push too high in loaf. I knew those cute little heart plates and Apilco espresso cups would come in handy some day.
Be My Valentine Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter
- 3 c. sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 3 c. flour
- 1 c. sour cream
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- Vanilla Icing: Very Culinary's recipe
- 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
- 2 1/2 Tbsp. milk
- 1 tsp. butter melted
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla
- 1/8 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar for 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix all the dry ingredients together.
- Add the dry ingredients alternating with the sour cream. Beat well and pour into a greased floured bundt pan (see directions for this cake below.) Use 1 5x9" bread pan for one cake.
- Bake at 325° for 1 hr 15 minutes (bundt) about 1 hr. 10 minutes for loaf pans.
- After the pink loaf bakes, cool for about 5 minutes then turn out onto rack to cool. When cool, refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Cut the cold cake into slices the thickness of your cookie cutter (I did thinner than the cutter because I did not want to have to cut huge pieces of the cake.) Using your cookie cutter, cut out heart shapes and set aside. Save scraps for munching.
- While the cake is in the refrigerator prepare your second cake (white) if using box mix. If not using box mix I would refrigerate the remaining batter until you are ready to put the cake together.
- Grease and flour your second bread pan and put just enough batter in the bottom to cover. Take your cutout hearts (or whatever shape you choose) and line up in bottom of pan as close as you can get them. Pour the remaining batter over the hearts making sure you have them all covered. Make sure the batter doesn't overflow. I would leave about 1/2"-"1 from the top.
- Bake for about 1 hour at 325°. Let cool in pan for about 20 minutes before trying to remove. While the cake is cooling make the frosting.
- Vanilla icing: Mix icing ingredients and spread over cooled cake. (or use the other recipe below for a flufflyier looking frosting.
- *NOTE: if none of these directions make sense as far as putting the cake together, please look at Very Culinary's website
- DIRECTIONS FOR THIS CAKE: If making two, make two recipes, tint one pink and one white. If only making one loaf of valentine pound cake, take a little more than half the batter and tint pink. Leave the remaining batter white. Pour the pink batter into a 5 x 9" bread pan and bake for an hour at 325°. Check with toothpick to make sure it is done. The cake in a bundt pan takes about 1 hr. 15 minutes, in loaf pan about an hour. I measured the batter and I think I came up with about 8-9 cups. You will need less of the white because you are going to cut the pink cake into slices and then put the hearts or shape into the loaf pan and pour the white batter around it, so you will, of course need less white batter.
- Another frosting recipe from sheknows.com
- For the icing
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
- 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
- Meanwhile, prepare the brown butter pecan icing.
- Put powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. In a saucepan, melt butter and boil, stirring until it starts to brown and form dark flecks on the sides and bottom.
- Remove from heat. Pour the melted brown butter and flecks over the powdered sugar. Add the evaporated milk and vanilla. Stir until combined and creamy. Add more powdered sugar if it appears too runny or more evaporated milk if it seems too stiff.
1 Comment
Olivia @ Liv Lives Life
February 14, 2013 at 6:33 amAdorable idea! Happy Valentine’s Day!