Heart-Shaped Chocolate Cake
Abuja, Nigeria · View all recipes
Overview
A two-layer chocolate cake baked in heart-shaped tins and finished with buttercream. No country is claimed. It is a Valentine's Day cake, and the shape is the only thing distinguishing it from an ordinary chocolate layer cake. The one ingredient doing real work is the buttermilk. Bicarbonate of soda, the only raising agent here, needs an acid to react with, and buttermilk supplies it, which is why this recipe contains no baking powder. Buttermilk also tenderises the crumb: its acidity weakens gluten strands, giving a softer texture than plain milk would. Substituting milk without adding acid will produce a flat, dense cake, so if you have no buttermilk, a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar stirred into a cup of milk and left for ten minutes is the standard fix. If you have no heart-shaped tins, the usual trick is one round and one square cake of the same size: cut the round in half and set the halves against two adjacent sides of the square set on its point. Two gaps in the source. Its method calls for food colouring that appears nowhere in the ingredients, and the frosting ingredients are given only inside the method. Both are corrected below.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Set the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Grease two 9-inch heart-shaped tins and dust them lightly with flour so the cakes release cleanly.
- 2
Combine the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a mixing bowl.
- 3
In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, softened butter, eggs and cocoa powder together.
- 4
Work the wet ingredients into the dry gradually, mixing only until just combined. Do not overmix, the batter should be smooth with no lumps but should not be beaten.
- 5
Divide the batter evenly between the two tins.
- 6
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- 7
Let the cakes cool in their tins for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- 8While they cool, make the frosting
beat the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and milk together until smooth and spreadable.
- 9
Sandwich and cover the cooled cakes with the frosting, and decorate as you like.
Africook’s Notes
Personal notes from Deborah Olayiwola- Do not substitute plain milk for the buttermilk without adding acid. Bicarbonate of soda is the only raising agent here and it needs something to react with.
- No buttermilk? A tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in a cup of milk, left to stand for ten minutes, does the same job.
- Cool the cakes completely before frosting. Warm cake melts buttercream straight off the layers.
- No heart tins? Bake one round and one square cake of the same size, halve the round, and set the halves against two adjacent sides of the square standing on its point.
- Do not overmix once the flour is wet. Beaten batter gives a tough cake.
- Fresh raspberries against chocolate buttercream is the easiest decoration that actually improves the cake rather than just the look.
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