Heart Cake Decorating Ideas

Heart candies are perfect for decorating small cupcakes.

Heart cakes are classic ideas for Valentines day, an anniversary or any special day in which you wish to say "I love you." Heart cakes can either be baked in the shape of a heart using a heart-shaped mold; a traditional tiered, round, or sheet cake decorated with hearts; or cupcakes sprinkled or topped with heart-shaped candy. The heart is a universal symbol of love, and is made all the more sweeter when in cake form.

Heart-Shaped Mold

Many baking and craft supply stores carry cake molds and forms, and among them, hearts are usually one of the most popular. Look for a heart-shaped cake mold in which to bake your cake. To add a little something extra, reserve some of the cake batter and bake it in a loaf pan. The extra cake can be carved into an arrow and attached to the heart during the frosting-and-decorating stage. To make an arrow, slice the loaf cake into enough pieces to make two large sticks, a triangle and two small sticks. Arrange them around the cake on its permanent platter (cannot move once it is frosted) and frost all together to cover up the seams.

Colors

Heart-shaped cakes should be in the classic "heart colors," especially if the cake is for Valentine's day. These include red, pink, purple or white. For regular-shaped, round, tiered, square or sheet cakes, consider frosting in white and decorating with pink, red and purple hearts.

Icing Types

Depending on the type of cake, either a traditional butter cream or fondant recipe can be used to frost the cake. Buttercream is the easiest to work with as it is spread over the exterior of the cake, while fondant takes practice, patience and time. Fondant is a smooth sugar paste covering that finishes the cake "dry." It is commonly used for wedding cakes, but can be used at home and in any color.

If making a tier cake, consider using white or colored, rolled fondant. For heart-shaped cakes, fondant is a difficult choice as it takes skill to properly keep it from wrinkling and tearing when adhered to a nontraditional surface shape. Sheet cakes should also be frosted with butter cream. If the cake is to be covered in chocolate cream or ganache, go for a dark chocolate finish and decorate with red raspberries or strawberries.

Cupcakes

Decorate small cupcakes with hearts. Frost the cupcakes white and either pipe a large red, pink or purple heart onto the middle, cover with hear-shaped sprinkles, sculpt a 2-D or 3-D heart out of marzipan or gum paste, or insert a plastic heart token at the end of a toothpick. Heart-shaped chocolate or hard fruit candies are also an option.

Heart Decorations

For cakes that are not heart-shaped, frosting, gum paste or fondant sculpted hearts are attractive decorations. For a tiered cake with a white fondant base, cutting out rolled fondant hearts and adhering them flat with sugar glue creates an elegant finish. Sheet cakes should be decorated with frosting piped hearts or dusted with heart-shaped sprinkles.

References

• Epicurious: Chocolate Heart Layer Cake with Chocolate-Cinnamon Mousse