An easy, yet unique eye-catcher: This mother's day cake with a heart inside is just the thing if you want to bake a great cake for mom but if you are not a baking expert. The only thing is that you need to plan enough time for the preparation. Because you have to do two recipes.
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Taste and Occasion
The idea of so-called patch cakes: two separately baked cakes together make a new cake with a surprising "inner life". Somewhat modified, the heart motif cake is also suitable for other occasions. For example for Easter with a bunny motif, for Christmas with a Christmas tree or how about a star motif?
Ingredients
To make a cake with a heart inside, there are several ways. First: you prepare a box cake, which is then cut into slices and cut out with a motif (regular cookie cutters are suitable for this). Then prepare a second cake batter. The cut-out hearts or other motifs come together with the dough again in the oven. It is essential that the hearts or the outer cake are colored with food coloring (I recommend natural alternatives) or cocoa.
The problem with this approach is that the motif sometimes slips up during baking or, if the cookie cutter is too small, the contours in the cake blur Tip: Freeze the inner hearts beforehand! The second patch cake recipe alternative is more time-consuming. Still, it is guaranteed to yield the best thing: Bake two box cakes independently in two colors. Then, each cake slice is put together like a puzzle: the "outer cake" gets heart holes, into which red hearts are inserted. The leftover pieces make great in cake pops, for example.
How to make the Hidden Heart Cake
Let's get started: Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Grease a small loaf pan and dust with flour. Prepare a sponge mixture from the ingredients for the inner cake or the motif (heart). For this, beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and mix well. Stir in the flour and baking powder alternately with the milk. Now, flavor as desired with lemon zest, vanilla or similar. Add food coloring depending on whether you want the design or the outside cake to be colored. Pour dough into loaf pan, smooth out and bake for about 50-60 minutes (cake should be too firm rather than too soft). Important: Test with chopsticks. Let the cake cool, refrigerate to firm up even more, and turn out. Cut into thick slices. Use a cookie cutter to cut out hearts, for example. Then, grease the loaf pan and dust it with flour.
After this, prepare a second batter for "outside". For this, again beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy, and stir in the eggs one by one until well blended. Finally, add flour, baking powder, salt, and milk. Color the dough if necessary if the heart is not colored. Spread some (not too much!) batter on the bottom of the loaf pan. In the end, place hearts close together in the pan. Spread the remaining batter around and on top, filling the pan. Smooth out. Bake the cake for another 50-60 minutes. Test with chopsticks and enjoy with your loved ones.
Top Tip
The Mother's Day cake with hearts is flexible and works with different sponge cakes. For the first alternative, however, they should not be too moist. If you like, you can flavor the dough so that the heart tastes fruity with raspberry puree, for example, and there is some lemon zest in the light dough.
Recipe Card
Hidden Heart Cake
Equipment
- 1 Small Loaf Pan (8 in / 20 cm)
Ingredients
For the heart
- 150 grams (¾ cup) butter
- 110 grams (⅔ cup) sugar
- 3 eggs, medium
- 230 grams (1 ⅘ cups) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 75 milliliters (5 tablespoons) milk
- food coloring
For the outer cake
- 150 grams (¾ cup) butter, soft
- 110 grams (⅔ cup) sugar
- 3 eggs, medium
- 230 grams (1 ⅘ cups) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 75 milliliters (5 tablespoons) milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. Grease a small loaf pan and dust with flour. Prepare a sponge mixture from the ingredients for the inner cake or the motif (heart). For this, beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and mix well. Stir in the flour and baking powder alternately with the milk. Flavor as desired with lemon zest, vanilla or similar. Add food coloring depending on whether you want the design or the outside cake to be colored.
- Pour dough into loaf pan, smooth out and bake for about 50-60 minutes (cake should be too firm rather than too soft). Test with chopsticks. Let the cake cool, refrigerate to firm up even more, and turn out. Cut into thick slices. Use a cookie cutter to cut out hearts, for example.
- Grease loaf pan and dust with flour. Prepare a second batter for "outside". For this, again beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy, and stir in the eggs one by one until well blended. Finally, add flour, baking powder, salt, and milk. Color the dough if necessary if the heart is not colored.
- Spread some (not too much!) batter on the bottom of the loaf pan. Place hearts close together in the pan. Spread the remaining batter around and on top, filling the pan. Smooth out. Bake the cake for another 50-60 minutes. Test with chopsticks.
Notes
- For a large 12 in / 30 cm loaf pan, use one-third more of all ingredients.
- If you like, you can flavor the two cakes differently, e.g. add lemon zest to one dough and some pureed raspberry or juice to the other.
- Another alternative for the heart cake: bake two box cakes in different colors. Assemble each cake slice separately by cutting out heart holes from the "outer cake", holes in which red hearts from the second colored dough are then inserted.
- From the remnants of cake, which are obtained when cutting out the motif, you can bake, for example, cake pops.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
If you need more inspiration for mother's day, check out our recipes on the blog. For example, a great mousse au chocolat or a chocolate loaf cake with glaze.
About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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