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Monday 28 January 2008

Hearts & Roses For My Valentine Cake



Yesterday I thought I’d turn my hand for the first time into making sugarpaste flowers. With Valentines Day looming near I can think of no better flower to make than red roses. Of course I needed a cake to place them on after they’d dried out, so this is how my Hearts & Roses For My Valentine Cake came about. I am sure as time goes by hopefully my skills will improve and become quicker when making sugarpaste flowers. The little hearts were cut out from small heart shaped plunger cutters, which made this task very simple without much effort needed.

If you are looking for a valentine’s cake to bake for your loved one this is a simple but I think stylish Valentine’s cake.

Hearts & Roses For My Valentine Cake


Ingredients
For The Sponge
225g (8 oz) self –raising flour, sieved
225g (8 oz) softened butter
225g (8 oz) caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk
For The Filling
Raspberry conserve, enough to sandwich the sponges together
To Stick The Icing To The Cake
1 tbsp apricot jam
3 tbsp water
For The Icing
500g (1lb 2 oz) fondant icing
Edible red food colouring paste – I use sugarflare
A little icing sugar, for rolling out the fondant icing
For The Royal Icing
100g (4 oz) sieved icing sugar
1 egg white
Few drops of lemon juice
Edible red food colouring paste - I use sugarflare

You will also need sugar roses or fresh roses, small heart cutters, a large silicone heart mould, piping bag with a small star tip nozzle, 25.5cm (10 in) cake board.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.

In a large mixing bowl add the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add and egg one at a time beating well in until all incorporated, add the vanilla extract, milk and beat in. Now add the sieved flour and fold through gently with a large metal spoon until fully mixed through.

You may have to bake the sponge in two batches if you only have one silicone heart mould – like I do. Place half the mixture into the heart mould and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 – 25 minutes or until full baked and feels springy to the touch in the middle. You can also test by inserting a skewer into the middle of the sponge and if it comes out clean its ready. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully and bake and cool the second sponge the same way if you need to.

Take the bottom sponge and spread with raspberry conserve and place the second sponge on top. Place onto the cake board.

In a saucepan on a gentle heat warm the apricot jam and water together, then brush all over the cake.

Sprinkle a work surface with a little icing sugar and roll out the fondant icing large enough to cover the cake. Easy the fondant over the cake and smooth out with your hands and cut off the overhang and save for making the small hearts.

For the royal icing, add the sieved icing sugar, egg white and lemon juice and mix to a stiff piping consistency, add a little more sifted icing if necessary. Fill the piping bag and pipe all around the base edge of the heart. Colour a little icing with edible food colouring and pipe little dots of red icing over the white.

With the remaining fondant icing left aside from cutting off the overhang colour with edible red food colouring. Cut out small fondant hearts and with a little white royal icing stick them in place all around the centre edge of the cake. Place the red roses to one side of the heart on top of the cake and with a little royal icing and a few red fondant heats place around the outside of the flowers.

Note: You could bake this sponge cake in a 20cm (8 in) cake tin but adjust the baking time. Cut the sponge into a heart shape cut through the middle then spread on the raspberry conserve.



I am entering my Hearts & Roses For My Valentine Cake into “A heart For Your Valentine” and to view for “The Round Up” on this [Link}

28 comments:

Namratha said...

Ohh this has got to be the best ever Valentine cake I've seen, so sweet Rosie..love it! :)

Rosie said...

Hi Namratha, welcome and thank you for calling by, lovely to *see* you here!! Also thank you for your very kind comment too :D

Feel free to call by anytime it will be great to see you!

Rosie x

Maria♥ said...

WOW oh WOW, this Valentine Cake is beautiful. Rosie you have really done a wonderful job on this cake!

Maria
x

Rosie said...

Hi maria, thank you sweetie! I have really enjoyed making this cake. The flowers I enjoyed sugarcrafting and as time goes by I hope my skills will improve.

Thank you as always for your kind comment and also for calling by :D

Rosie x

Claire said...

That cake is really lovely Rosie. Well done :D

Dhivya said...

Great recipe..Thanks for sharing.I am anew blogger,plz do see my blog ans encourage me

Donna said...

HOW BEAUTIFUL ROSIE!! And also, you've been tagged!!LOL
Come by my place to see what to do!! I know you've already visited..but I added more people!! And You're one of them...hughug

Chef Jeena said...

Rosie I sent you a comment but my laptop went a little funny so I will write how wonderful I think this cake is again. :-)

It looks fantastic Rosie very professional looking...I think you secretly have a bakers shop and sell your cakes for gourmet parties...hehe :-D

It shows you have passion for your baking in your posts and that you like to make your family happy with your cooking, they are very lucky. There is nothing better to me than a homely cook who enjoys food in a real way. :-)

I love the sausage platt too I would use beef sausages and use veggie shortening, yum yum.

Jeena x

Anonymous said...

that cake is just so pretty and romantic

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

An excellent job with the roses on this Valentine's beauty! Someone will be the lucky recipient!!

Cakelaw said...

Rosie, this is yet another gorgeous creation! Your cakes are too beautiful to eat - I think this one would look perfect on the dresser in my bedroom.

zorra said...

Boah, how impressing is this! Great job!

Rosie said...

Hi Claire, lovely to *see* you and thank you! :)

Hi Dhivya, it’s always great to find a new foodie blog to read and yours really looks great. Loved your recipe for the onions !!

Hi Donna, oooooh been tagged I must pop by and take a look :) As always sweetie thanks for your lovely comment.

Hi Jeena, I also found this yesterday re: posting comments?!*?! Heehee, I wish, if only I had a little bakery or tea shop that would be a dream come true :) Hubby came in from work yesterday and saw this cake and I said this one is for you my Valentine ……….

Good Idea to use beef sausages in the platt I bet that would be very tasty too!

Hi theysaywordscanbleed, welcome and thank you! You have some beautiful poems on your blog and I enjoyed reading them!

Hi valli, thank you and the lucky recipient has got to be my hubby who I dearly cherish :)

Hi Cakelaw, thank you! Lol pity it’s edible wouldn’t last long on our dresser in the bedroom, hubby would be cutting chunks off to eat and Oh those crumbs get every where heehee…. ;)

Hi zorra, ahh thank you and I hope it makes a nice entry for your “A heart For Your Valentine”

Thanks everyone for kindly leaving lovely comments and also for calling by :D

Rosie x

Finla said...

It looks so beautiful. And you are so romantic rosie :-)
To my eye the roses are perfect

Sagari said...

wowwwww beautifulll cake rosie

MrsB said...

Hi Rosie, what a lovely cake, you have such a great talent for baking cakes, i hope you enjoy it! x

Rosie said...

Hi Happy,ahhh thanks you really know how to make me smile! :)

Hi Sagari, thank you So much! Loved the look of your delicious brown rice salad! :)

Hi Mrs B, thanks and such a lovely complement coming from an accomplished baker too :)

Many thanks for calling by ladies and as always your very kind comments!!

Rosie x

Steph said...

What a gorgeous cake!! I;m sure your Valentine will be very, very happy :0)

Pixie said...

Magnificent! Well done for those gorgeous sugarpaste flowers, you're a natural!

And I'm going to recruit you- YOU MUST JOIN THE DARING BAKERS! :)

Chibog in Chief said...

this has to be the loviest heart shaped cake i've ever seen..wish someone would give me one!! i will never be able to do something as beautiful as this one!! they are lovely rosie!!

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

Rosie, this is yet another beautiful cake. it kinda makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. nice work!

Rosie said...

Hi Steph, I think I put a smile onto hubby’s face telling him this cake is ALL for him lol

Hi Pixie, I have been pondering on joining the Daring Bakers for sometime now, maybe I should take your advice and join. I really enjoyed my first time crafting those roses, such fun! :D

Hi Dhanggit, awe I hope you receive a dozen red roses and a good bottle of champers for Valentines!! My only wish would be if could make all my blog friends a cake for always being SO kind :D

Hi Jerrii, very kind of you, funny how cakes make one think of the nice things in life :D

Hi C & T C, awe what a lovely compliment! :D

Many thanks for all your very kind words, I feel very touched by them and thank you for stopping by much appreciated!!

I hope for all my blogger friends that come Valentines Day may you all have a lovely day with your cherished ones!!

Rosie x

Abitofafoodie said...

Rosie, another gorgeous cake! How beautiful!
I've still not had time to make the Sussex Pond pudding - I get home from work so late that I don't have enough time to steam it before going to bed! But I am determined to make it this weekend. Hope you'll forgive me for making it in February and not January!

Rosie said...

HI Antonia, ahh thank you!

Oh I am pleased you are going to try the Sussex Pond pudding and of course I don't mind it being in February, I know how hectic it can be at times trying to fit everything in :) I really look forward to viewing your pudding.

Rosie x

miss mallory opel said...

Hi Rosie,

Thanks for stopping by my blog, what wonderful words you left me! I absolutely adore this cake! It's fabulous for valentines day. I love the flowers, you have a great talent with sugarpaste, it's something I hope to practice in the future. This cake reminds me of a cake my grandmother had in one of her cookbooks. When I was a little girl I would sit and marvel at the heart shape, the red and white frosting, and the little red hearts. Of course, you cake is much more stylish!

Thanks for stopping by, and please, come by my blog anytime!

Mallory
www.asofainthekitchen.blogspot.com

Rosie said...

Hi Mallory, welcome and thank you also for your very kind words on my cake. What a coincidence it's like a cake your grandmother had in her cookbook :) I think that food came bring back very fond memories indeed. I will be visiting your blog from now on :)

Rosie x

Angel said...

Your cake is beautiful! It definitely gives off the feel of Victorian romance. Amazing!!

Rosie said...

HI angel, welcome and lovely to *see* you here! :D

Awe thank you for your very kind words! I did try to aim for a nostalgic feel to this cake.


Thank you for calling by its a pleasure to *see* you here!

Rosie x