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Letter Board Valentine's Day Cake

valentine cake with plates, utensils and a bowl of frosting around the edges of the photo
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5 from 9 reviews

Even if words aren't your strong suit, your valentine is sure to feel the love with this easy, letter board inspired valentine cake!

  • Author: The Simple, Sweet Life
  • 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

Scale

For the chocolate cake:

  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 2 oz. dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • 4 oz. baking cocoa
  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 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

  1. To make the cake, pour the boiling water over the coarsely chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the eggs until light and frothy.
  3. Add the vegetable oil and continue whipping until completely incorporated.
  4. Add the sugar, milk, and water/chocolate mixtures, and whisk until just combined.
  5. Gently fold in the baking cocoa, flour, baking soda, and baking powder with a spatula until the batter is lump free.
  6. Pour the batter into a greased and parchment paper lined 8"x8" square cake pan.
  7. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Remove the still warm cake from the pan, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes (or until cooled and stiffed).
  9. Cut the cake in half and fill with 1 lb chocolate frosting.
  10. 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).
  11. In a bowl, combine the remaining 1 lb of chocolate frosting with black food coloring, stirring until the color has been evenly distributed.
  12. 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.
  13. Spoon some of the remaining white frosting into another piping back with a 2A tip, and pipe a border around the edge.
  14. 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.
  15. 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

Find it online: https://thesimple-sweetlife.com/letter-board-valentines-day-cake/