Valentine’s Day Heart Cake

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the full disclosure here.

This is the cutest, quickest, and easiest Homemade Heart Cake to make and you don’t even need a heart-shaped pan! It makes an adorable Valentine’s Day dessert and everyone will love it, especially since it’s made with a lot of love! 😉

PIN this Heart-Shaped Cake to try later!

Pin

homemade heart cake

You will not believe how easy this Valentine’s Day cake is to make from start to finish. Made with store-bought cake mix, a fluffy homemade cream cheese buttercream frosting, and it’s easily decorated like it came from a bakery.

We use a red velvet cake base but you can use any boxed cake flavor that you wish. This single layer cake is made with 2 8-inch cake pans (one square pan and one round pan) to form the perfect shape of a heart so don’t worry about getting a special cake pan! This is a great way to put a smile on someones face and it’s the ultimate Valentine’s Day cake.

We decorate the Heart Shaped Cake with a border of pink frosting to create a vintage cake design that makes it look extra fancy but this is optional. You could also outline the boarder of the heart with sprinkles.

Other heart shaped desserts to make is my Heart Shaped Pizza, Cherry Hand Pies, Brownies, and Cut-Out Sugar Cookies! If you love red velvet flavored desserts, make my Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies, Red Velvet Truffles, and Red Velvet Sheet Cake.

Pin

Pin

key ingredients

• Boxed of Red Velvet Cake Mix: The main ingredient. You can use any of your favorite red velvet cake mix brands, I use either Duncan Hines, Betty Crocker, or Pillsbury.  
• Eggs: We use whole large eggs for moisture and texture. It’s best if they are at room temperature, they will help bind the cake.
• Vegetable oil: Binds the ingredients and gives the cookies a soft cake-like consistency. Use any type of neutral oil or you can also use melted butter instead.
• Vanilla extract: This will spruce up the cake mix to add even more flavor.
• Sprinkles: I love using a combination of Valentine’s Day sprinkles to make this cake fun and festive. Other toppings to use are Valentine’s Day M&M’s, chocolate hearts, sweetheart candies, mini red hot hearts, and maraschino cherries.
• Cream cheese buttercream: We make our own from scratch with cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk, and food coloring gel.

Pin

how to make a heart shaped cake

Prepare cake pans: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 6-inch or 8-inch round cake pan and a 6-inch or 8-inch square cake pan with non-stick spray. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and set aside.

Make red velvet cake batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Blend at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat again until combined.

Bake and cool cake: Divide the batter evenly between the round and square baking pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Cool and then transfer to a wire rack.

Pin

how to make frosting

Make the frosting by beating the butter together until smooth in a medium bowl. Add in the cream cheese and beat together until combined. Add in 2 cups of powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and a few drops of red food coloring until pale pink color has been achieved. Add in more powdered sugar to thicken the frosting or milk to thin it out. The frosting should be smooth, fluffy and not too thick.

Pin

how to assemble vintage heart cake

Cut domes off cake: To assemble the cake, cut the domed tops off of each cake with a sharp, serrated knife. Cut the round cake in half. Place the square cake top down as a diamond on a serving plate. Place the half circles of cake face down on either side of the square cake to form a heart shape.

Make the crumb coating: Spread a little buttercream frosting in an even layer on the top of the cake and side of the cake using an offset spatula to create the crumb coating. This will help make the next layer nice and smooth. Scrape the frosting evenly along the sides of the cake. Once the crumb coat is applied, chill the cake for 30 minutes.

Apply another layer of frosting: After cake has been chilled, apply another even but thicker layer of frosting on to the cake, be sure to scrape the sides evenly. Use an offset spatula for the top of the cake to get a super smooth topping.

Make pink frosting: Add a few more drops of red food coloring to the remaining frosting to make it a different shade of pink and transfer it to a piping bag fit with a star tip.

Decorate and serve: Pipe a border of pink frosting around the edges of the heart. Add heart sprinkles and Valentine’s Day sprinkles on top of frosted cake. Serve and enjoy!

Pin

tips & variations

• Gluten-Free Heart-Shape Cake: Use gluten-free cake mix to make this cake gluten-free.
• Switch up the frosting: Instead of using a cream cheese frosting, use a regular buttercream, vanilla frosting, or chocolate frosting. I recommend using a homemade frosting instead of the canned frosting because the canned frosting is harder to pipe on the cake for decoration as it doesn’t hold up well.
• Cake flavor: Use any of your favorite cake flavors. Chocolate cake, vanilla cake, strawberry cake, and funfetti cake will all work great. Use a box of cake mix or use your own cake recipe from scratch.
• Write a message: Just like the popular Valentine’s Day sweetheart candies, pipe on a sweet message like “Love You”, “Be Mine”, “XOXO”, or “Happy Valentine’s Day”.
• Frosting color: Use you favorite different shades of pink, red, or leave the cake white. You can customize this cake exactly how you want it to be.
• Don’t skip the crumb coat: This is essential because it makes the final frosting layer extra smooth on top. Making it look like it came from a bakery!

Pin

leftovers & storage

Leftovers: Store leftover cake in an airtight container or cover baking sheet with foil or plastic wrap. Store in a cool area for 2-3 days, then transfer to the refrigerator and store for 2 more days. The cake will start to dry out once it’s stored in the refrigerator. 

Freeze: You can freeze unfrosted cake by wrapping the cooled unfrosted cake with plastic wrap, including the sheet pan, or cut into individual slices and wrap each slice, and then place in a heavy-duty ziplock bag or cover with aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Defrost: To defrost the unfrosted cake, let the cake thaw completely before frosting. Place cake in the refrigerator to sit overnight or sit out in the counter for at least 3 hours. Make frosting and enjoy.

Pin

Pin