Strawberry Heart Cake
Baking a cake and sharing it with those you love is a timeless way to show you care. Valentine’s Day can simply be used as an excuse to sweeten the path to someone’s affection.
SERVES
10
PEOPLE
PREP TIME
30
MINUTES
COOKING TIME
50
MINUTES
Ingredients
250g self-raising flour
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp bread soda
3 eggs
240g golden caster sugar
225 ml light sunflower oil
220 ml milk
For the cheesecake icing:
230g cream cheese
25g freeze-dried strawberry powder
1 tsp vanilla
110g soft butter
380g icing sugar
1 tbsp milk, if needed
Method
Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.
Line a heart shaped tin. I use a spring form one that is 8-inchs wide.
Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and bread soda together into a bowl and set aside.
Whisk the eggs, sugar, oil and milk until smooth.
Gently add the liquid to the flour mixture until combined.
Scoop the cake batter into the prepared tin.
Place your tin into the centre of your oven and bake for 50/55 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin until cool enough to handle and then gently remove it from the tin. Leave it on the rack to cool.
Whisk the cream cheese, freeze-dried strawberry powder, vanilla and butter until light and fluffy.
If the icing needs to be loosened to help it spread more easily you can add the milk, bit by bit.
Cut the cold cake horizontally through the centre, making two hearts.
Spread a layer of the icing onto the heart which will form the base and then place the other on top of it.
Ice around the sides and top of the cake.
Decorate with berries or some Valentine’s Day cake decorations.
