Categories: BakingCakesCooking with the Books

Interior Hearts Cake : A Video Tutorial

You remember my first video on how to make khandvi?

And how each time how I said it would be my last.

Well, apparently they weren’t because I am sharing another one today.

So making a video is a pain.

You have to understand that shooting and featuring and baking/cooking a video tutorial is not easy, especially if you are the one behind and in front of the camera trying to do both roles simultaneously. And more so if you do not have the expertise to shoot videos. As a result, after all the effort, of course, the results are not top notch quality, since I can do only so much.

Editing is another story, and even though it still takes quite long- what with the time taken to export, convert and import (it took the better part of the day)- the actual editing I am getting a little hang of. Or so I like to think.

But, guys, I try and I hope this video does make the process of making an interior heart cake clearer. Still do let me know what you think, and what I can do to improve. Maybe mask the critique in between a compliment and lay it down slow, so that I don’t end up giving up on video making for my entire life. Just kidding. You can be brutal. I will be strong.

As for the cake, I loved it!

Its this dense, rich cake – reminiscence of a pound cake. The original recipe, from the book Bake It Like You Mean It, has a layer of buttercream smoothed on top of it. But I chose to keep things simple and served it slightly warmed in the microwave (10-12 seconds) with a dollop of whipped cream.

I did not get hearts in all the slices, but I did get a few to get the effect. I am sure it will take more practice to get this cake perfect, but for now I am happy with the few hearts I did get.

I hope the video helps to make the recipe instructions clearer. Also keep the following points in mind while attempting this cake to get the desired results:

Make sure that you place the hearts as close as possible, and slightly angled to the center of the tube pan.
Also do cover the hearts completely with the remaining batter.
For the red batter, only color about 40 % of the entire batter.
When placing the hearts in the batter of the tube pan, don’t press the hearts all the way down into the batter, just enough that the batter keeps the hearts upright.

This would be great for Valentine’s Day, wouldn’t it!

Enjoy!

Interior Hearts Cake: A Video Tutorial from Shumaila Chauhan on Vimeo.

Interior Hearts Cake : A Video Tutorial

Recipe Type: cake

Cuisine: dessert

Author: adapted from Bake It Like You Mean it

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 1 hour 15 mins

Total time: 1 hour 45 mins

A rich pound cake with hearts in the centre. A video tutorial on the blog as well.

Ingredients

1 pound (455 gms) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups (800 gms) granulated sugar
10 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract ( I used vanilla bean paste)
6 cups (750 gms) all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups (600 ml) buttermilk
3-4 drops red food coloring

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and spray with non stick cooking spray.
Prepare a large tube or angel food baking mold by spraying it well with nonstick baking spray.
In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5 to 10 min, scraping sides and bottom from time to time.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for a few seconds between each addition. Add the vanilla.
In another bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking powder.
With the mixer on low, add the flour and buttermilk in alternate additions starting and ending with the flour. keep scraping the bottom and sides time to time to ensure the batter is well mixed.
In a bowl, transfer a little less than half the batter, and add in the red food coloring. Mix well to distribute the color.
Spread the red batter evenly on the prepared half sheet pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until the cake is just barely done. It should be firm to touch. It shouldn't spring back. Let cool completely.
Using a 3 inch heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out 14-15 hearts from the red sheet cake.
In the prepared tube pan, put half of the un-dyed batter in the bottom. Place the cut out red hearts with the rounded side down into the batter and points sticking up and slightly angled. Keep the hearts as close together.
Fill a large pastry bag with the remaining batter and pipe into the tube pan (See video), covering hearts completely and filling any hard to reach areas.
Bake 45-50 minutes, until cake is golden brown and tester comes out clean.
Cool completely in pan before you slice and serve with whipped cream.