Valentine's Cake

The Super Bowl is officially over, and Valentine's is on it's way! (Wow, I feel like this year is going pretty fast.)

If you're looking for a delicious dessert to make this quickly-approaching Valentine's Day, then why not give this fun cake a try? It's got a hidden heart inside and fun frosting to boot!

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VALENTINE'S CAKE

INGREDIENTS:
Pink Cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp. maraschino cherry juice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Pink food coloring

White Cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Frosting:

• 4 tsp. Meringue powder and 4 tsp. water (or the equivalent of 2 egg whites)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• Pink food coloring

Optional:

• Sprinkles

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray a bread pan (that's what the cake here was made with) or 9 by 13 inch pan with non-stick spray.
2. Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs on eat a time.
3. Mix in the maraschino cherry juice.
4. Slowly incorporate the flour and salt.
5. After the batter is mixed together, add the pink food coloring.
6. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean (about 1 hour and 15 minutes minutes with a bread pan).
7. Let the cake cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool longer.
8. If you baked the cake in a pan, cut the cake into even slices.
9. Cut out the cake with a heart-shaped cookie cutter.
10. Repeat steps 1 through 4 with the white cake ingredients, replacing the maraschino juice with vanilla.
11. Pour a small amount of the white batter on the bottom of the bread pan.
12. Line up the heart-shaped cake pieces upright in the bread pan.
13. Carefully pour the remaining batter over the hearts.
14. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
15. Let the cake cool.
16. While the cake is cooling, make the frosting.
17. Mix all of the ingredients together.
18. Pour half of the frosting over the cake, and then color the remaining frosting with pink food coloring.
19. Drizzle the pink frosting over the cake as well and add sprinkles over the top.
20. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Lady and the Blog.

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