Chocolate Heart Cake

Serve this dessert as a romantic finale to your Valentines' Day with your sweetheart. If fresh raspberries are not available, use fruits in season or what is available like strawberries or blueberries.

Servings:

Cooking Time:

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup less 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup, firmly packed, brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ cups buttermilk

For the Frosting:

• 2 cups prepared frosting
• 2 cups whipped cream
• 1 pint fresh raspberries

Tools:

• 9-inch heart-shaped cake pan
• 2 pastry bags with small star tips
• Waxed paper

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of the pan with waxed paper. Grease the paper and all sides of the pan, and then dust with flour.
• In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla; mix until blended.
• At low speed, alternately beat flour mixture and buttermilk into butter mixture just until blended. Pour batter in prepared pan.
• Bake the cake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to wire rack; cool for 10 minutes.
• Turn out and remove the waxed paper. Turn the cake topside up and cool completely.
• Frost the cake evenly with chocolate frosting. Run the tines (forks) of a fork across the top of the cake to form a wavy pattern south-to-north across the cake (from the bottom of the heart to the top).
• Spoon any leftover frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Starting an inch from the edge, pipe out stars in a heart shaped pattern, following the edges of the cake. To make a star - squeeze the bag and lightly lift the tip to form the star.
• Fill another pastry bag with the whipped cream, fitted with a small star tip. Pipe around the top, outer edge, and along the bottom of the cake, forming a scroll pattern.
• Garnish with the raspberries!

You could substitute the chocolate frosting with white chocolate frosting or whipped cream!