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"Love in the Cake"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Creates 16 slices
 
Ingredients
 
Heart center
  • 1 16 ounce boxed pound cake mix
  • ¼ cup of Challenge Unsalted Butter
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup of milk
  • 1 cup of diced strawberries
  • Red food coloring
  • Heart shaped cookie cutter
 
Butter Pound Cake
  • 1 16 ounce pound cake mix
  • 1/3 cup of Challenge Unsalted Butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup of milk
 
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
  • 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips or your favorite chocolate bar, diced
  • 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
  • Strawberry slices for garnish if desired
 
 
Directions
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray two loaf pans with a baking spray or coat with flour and shortening.
  • To create the heart cake center, place cake mix, butter, eggs, milk and strawberries in a mixing bowl. On low speed, mix together ingredients for 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and mix for 2 additional minutes. Add enough red food coloring to batter until you achieve the desired color of your heart. Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for 10 minutes LESS than the package suggests. Remove from oven and let cool. When cool enough to handle, place into refrigerator for 4 hours to chill cake. Slightly under baking and chilling is essential to achieve desired results!
  • To create the Butter Pound Cake, add cake mix, butter eggs and milk to bowl. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then two minutes on high.
  • When cake heart center is chilled, using a serrated knife, slice cake the same width of the heart shaped cookie cutter. Next, using the cookie cutter cut a heart out of each slice.
TIP: You can save the extra cake pieces, toast them and layer with yogurt or pudding and fruit slices for a delicious parfait the next day!
  • Pour ½ of the Butter Pound Cake batter into the second loaf pan. Place the cut out hearts back to back to create a stack or “log of hearts.” Place heart stack into pan, upside down. (The bottom of cake will ultimately be the top of the finished cake) Pour the remaining batter over hearts. Batter will look uneven, but the sides will rise during baking to flatten out cake when finished-don’t worry! Bake for 50 minutes, remove and cool completely.
  • To create your ganache, place chocolate chips or pieces in a medium size mixing bowl. In a small saucepan heat cream until it comes to a low boil. Immediately pour over chocolate and cover bowl with a lid or plate. Wait for 5 minutes, remove lid and stir until a velvety chocolate ganache is formed. Place into refrigerator to thicken for 15 minutes. When thickened, but still thin enough to pour, your ganache is ready.
  • Place cake on a wire rack, bottom side up for a flat surface on top. Put rack on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Pour ganache over cake, letting frosting drip over sides. Chill for 15 minutes in the refrigerator and recoat with the extra ganache. You can reuse any ganache that falls into the pan.
  • Refrigerate cake until you are ready to serve. Cut into slices with a serrated knife and serve with extra strawberries if desired.
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