Even if words aren't your strong suit, your valentine is sure to feel the love with this easy, letter board inspired valentine cake!
Roses are red, violets are blue, poems are hard sooooo how about cake instead?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with poetry or a good romantic overture. All I'm saying is does anything say "I really love you" like a homemade chocolate cake smothered in 2 lbs of chocolate frosting?
How to make this letter board valentine cake
First, whip up the chocolate cake and bake it in an 8" x 8" square cake pan. Once the cake has cooled enough to handle, turn it out onto a piece of plastic wrap, wrap it and chill it in the refrigerator until it's cooled completely. Chilled cakes are much easier to handle.
Cut the cake in two, fill with half of the chocolate frosting and put the two layers back together. Crumb coat the sides with a thin layer of white frosting and chill until the frosting has hardened.
Second, tint the remaining chocolate frosting black. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag and, using a 2A tip, pipe even layers onto the top of the cake. Be sure to leave a little room around the edges for a boarder.
Spoon some of the white frosting into another piping bag with a 2A tip and pipe a white boarder around the edge.
Third, spoon some of the white frosting into a piping bag with a Wilton #5 tip and pipe the message onto the top of the cake using the lines of frosting as a guide.
Finally, use an offset spatula to cover the sides of the cake with the remaining white frosting.
How to make the perfect letter board valentine cake
New to cake decorating? No worries! Here's everything you need to know to make this letter board valentine cake perfectly.
- Chill your cake: Cool cake is easier to cut and handle, so chilling your cake for a short while before use will make this process easier.
- Crumb coat: Spreading a thin layer of frosting around the sides of the cake, and then refrigerating it will lock in any crumbs and keep them from reaching the surface of your frosted cake.
- To fix broken lines or bubbles in the lines of black frosting: Use an offset spatula to slightly flatten the tops of the lines of frosting. This will smooth out any imperfections or gaps.
- Preparing the message: Regardless of what message you'd like to put on top of the cake, it helps to write it out on a piece of paper beforehand to make sure the message will fit and is evenly space.
- Storage: This cake will keep at room temperature, uncut, for 3-4 days. For best results, cover it with a plastic lid, bowl or place it in a cardboard box.
- Storing cut cake: Once your cake is cut, you’ll want to protect the exposed cake area. The easiest way to do this is with a piece of plastic wrap or two.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below. Better still, snap a photo and tag it on Instagram with #thesimplesweetlife. I love seeing your creations!
PrintRecipe
Letter Board Valentine's Day Cake
Even if words aren't your strong suit, your valentine is sure to feel the love with this easy, letter board inspired valentine cake!
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 20 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake:
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 oz. dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 4 oz. baking cocoa
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. baking powder
For decorating:
- 2 lb chocolate frosting
- 1 lb white frosting
- Black gel food coloring
- Wilton piping tips: 2A and 5
- Optional: heart sprinkles
Instructions
- To make the cake, pour the boiling water over the coarsely chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the eggs until light and frothy.
- Add the vegetable oil and continue whipping until completely incorporated.
- Add the sugar, milk, and water/chocolate mixtures, and whisk until just combined.
- Gently fold in the baking cocoa, flour, baking soda, and baking powder with a spatula until the batter is lump free.
- Pour the batter into a greased and parchment paper lined 8"x8" square cake pan.
- Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the still warm cake from the pan, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes (or until cooled and stiffed).
- Cut the cake in half and fill with 1 lb chocolate frosting.
- Crumb coat the sides of the cake with a thin layer of white frosting and allow to chill in the refrigerator until the frosting has hardened (about 20 minutes).
- In a bowl, combine the remaining 1 lb of chocolate frosting with black food coloring, stirring until the color has been evenly distributed.
- Spoon the black frosting into a piping back with a Wilton 2A tip and pipe the frosting onto the cake in even lines. Make sure to leave enough room around the edges for a white border.
- Spoon some of the remaining white frosting into another piping back with a 2A tip, and pipe a border around the edge.
- Spoon some of the white frosting into a piping bag with a Wilton #5 tip, and pipe your text onto the top of the cake using the lines of frosting as a guide.
- Using an off set spatula, coat the sides of the cake with the remaining white frosting.
Notes
- Chill your cake: Cool cake is easier to cut and handle, so chilling your cake for a short while before use will make this process easier.
- Crumb coat: Spreading a thin layer of frosting around the sides of the cake, and then refrigerating it will lock in any crumbs and keep them from reaching the surface of your frosted cake.
- To fix broken lines or bubbles in the lines of black frosting: Use an offset spatula to slightly flatten the tops of the lines of frosting. This will smooth out any imperfections or gaps.
- Preparing the message: Regardless of what message you'd like to put on top of the cake, it helps to write it out on a piece of paper beforehand to make sure the message will fit and is evenly space.
- Storage: This cake will keep at room temperature, uncut, for 3-4 days. For best results, cover it with a plastic lid, bowl or place it in a cardboard box.
- Storing cut cake: Once your cake is cut, you’ll want to protect the exposed cake area. The easiest way to do this is with a piece of plastic wrap or two.
Chocolate cake recipe adapted from Miette
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 458
- Sugar: 60.1g
- Sodium: 247mg
- Fat: 17.8g
- Saturated Fat: 5.4g
- Carbohydrates: 73.9g
- Fiber: 2.8g
- Protein: 3.1g
- Cholesterol: 18mg
Keywords: valentine cake, valentine's day cake recipe, letter board cake tutorial
Elaine Benoit says
This cake is simply adorable. I've never seen anything like it. Love the frosting and the cake looks so moist and delicious!
★★★★★
Sherri says
Chocolate definitely says "I love you" in my book! Beautiful cake as always! Such a creative and fun idea! And so much glorious chocolate! 🙂
★★★★★
Leslie Haasch says
This is SO. FREAKING. CUTE. We're getting married the Sunday before Valentine's Day... wonder if it's too late to swap out the cake we ordered for this one? hah!
Sue says
This cake looks so moist and delicious and what a creative idea!! The message board could be adapted to sooo... many occasions 🙂 I love it!!!
★★★★★
Veena Azmanov says
Chocolate is the best treat on Valentine's Day - Love how cute this cake is. Love cake anytime of the year especially on especially occasions. Saving this for later.
★★★★★
Aleta says
Ahhhh this is terribly cute! My 4 year old came home from preschool the other day, asking about valentines day. She knows all about handing out valentines and I've been stressing about how to go about getting each Childs name in her class so that no one is left out.. but HEY! I could just make this amazing cake and send that to school with her! Thanks!
★★★★★
Kiki Johnson says
The crumb of this chocolate cake looks DIVINE! And what a clever idea to make a letter board cake - LOVE the message haha! Who need all those rhymes - this cake is a poem in itself!
★★★★★
Marisa Franca says
I would certainly love to get a cake for Valentines Day but there is little hope of that. So my solution is to bake your Letter Board Valentine's Day Cake and serve it to the family when they come over for dinner. Chocolate has got to be the best flavor -- so yummy and you get a double dose with the filling and cake.
★★★★★
Analida Braeger says
What a cute idea! I always enjoyed those little letterboards with their quirky sayings. This could be reimagined into a lot of things, not just Valentines. Thanks for sharing!
Kathryn | Urban Foodie Kitchen says
This is such a fun idea for Valentine’s Day and the cake looks delicious too!
Elizabeth Leaver says
I love chocolate cake at the best of times but this is just awesome! I absolutely love the message 😂 plus you've given some really great tips to get it just right! Such a creative idea.
★★★★★
Veronika's Kitchen says
Chocolate cakes are my favorites! and your look so scrumptious! and very original))) Love it!
★★★★★
Sara says
This is absolutely the sweetest idea! I would probably mess up the lettering because I have sloppy handwriting, but that would make it endearing and yummy right?!
Monika Sharma says
OMG..|| The cake was amazing everyone said how nice it was, it tasted beautiful there was hardly any left lol