Go Back
–+ servings
Print
This hidden heart Valentine's Day cake is a fun and impressive dessert to serve the people you love--just don't tell the how easy it was to make! It would also be an adorable gender-reveal cake with pink or blue. recipe and how-to via itsybitsykitchen.com #cake #bundtcake #valentinesday #genderreveal

Hidden Heart Valentine’s Day Cake

This hidden heart cake is an impressive dessert for Valentine's Day or any day of the year!

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Cooling Time 4 hours
Total Time 5 hours 30 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Author Kelsie

Ingredients

Hidden heart:

  • 1 15.25-ounce box red velvet cake mix + ingredients to make the cake

White cake:

  • 1 115.25-ounce box white cake mix
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 4 large eggs at room temperature

Chocolate ganache:

  • 3/4 cups chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

Hidden heart:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10- by 15-inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, then spray the paper with additional cooking spray. Set pan aside.
  2. Prepare the red velvet cake mix according to the directions on the box. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 16 to 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed lightly with your fingertip and a cake tester inserted in to the center of the cake comes out clean.

  3. Cool in pan to room temperature, then gently flip the cake out onto a large cutting board to cool completely. Once cake is fully cooled, use a 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out about 25 hearts.

  4. Place the hearts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freezer for at least 3 hours, or overnight. Leave them in the freezer while you prepare the white cake batter.

White cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10-inch bundt pan with cooking spray and set pan aside.
  2. Combine cake mix, milk, butter, and eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour 1 1/2 cups of batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the frozen hearts on the batter with the top of the hearts facing downward. You’ll probably need to slice the hearts in half to get them to fit neatly around the curve of your pan; pack the hearts in tightly to minimize gaps between them.
  3. Carefully pour the remaining white cake batter in the pan over the cutout hearts.
  4. Bake 44 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then carefully remove the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate ganache:

  1. Heat the heavy cream over medium heat until it just begins to steam. Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Let sit for 4 minutes, then whisk until chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle the ganache over the cooled cake and refrigerate the cake to set the ganache. Slice and serve.

Recipe Notes

  1. Be sure your heart cookie cutter will fit in your bundt pan.  Remember your white cake batter won’t go all the way to the top of the pan so you want the heart small enough to fit into the pan with plenty of room.
  2. You’ll bake the cake you use for the hearts in a jelly roll pan.  This will result in hearts that are fairly thick so don’t forget to slice them in half before you put them in the pan.  This allows them to fit around the pan’s curves better.
  3. If you have trouble cutting the hearts out without the cake crumbling, freeze the cake for 30 to 60 minutes; it will firm up and be easier to cut.
  4. Pack the hearts into the pan as tightly as you can get them so you don’t have gaps where only white cake is showing.  (If this happens when you slice your cake just shave a little off the sides and the heart should appear.)