Strawberry Vanilla Heart Cake

When I saw this cake on Studio 5 I was so excited to try and make it. Of course a healthier version. I made their flag cake for the 4th of July and it was a huge hit to say the least. I love this cake too! I can't wait to show it to people. I made it a little early so I could show you, so you could make it for your Valentine's dinner.

At first glance it looks pretty plain, just all white. Then when you cut into it there is a heart inside! It is made with Strawberry and Vanilla cake with whipped cream for the frosting. The strawberry cake turned out so moist and delicious, a perfect fit for the heart in the center. The vanilla cake is the perfect complement to the strawberry. I think the thing I am most proud of is that it looks great and I didn't have to use a red velvet cake. They have soooo much food coloring in them, I get a little sick just looking at one. And on that note here are the recipes I used for the Strawberry and the Vanilla Cakes.

Vanilla Cake

Ingredients

2 cups kamut flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon guar gum or xantham gum

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups evaporated cane juice

2 eggs

3/4 cup applesauce

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup rice milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper; set aside. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, guar gum, and evaporated cane juice. In a large measuring cup add the tablespoon of vanilla. Add enough rice milk to the measuring cup until it measures 1 cup. Then add to flour mixture along with the eggs and applesauce and mix well. Divide batter between the two cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a tooth pick in the center comes out clean. Cool on cooling racks. When cakes are cool cut both cake round in half. Take one cake and frost one of the half's with whipped cream (recipe below) and place the other half on top. Repeat with second cake After they are frosted, just in the center, cover and freeze. While freezing make Strawberry Cake.

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients

3 cups spelt flour

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon guar gum or xantham gum

2 1/4 cups evaporated cane juice

3 eggs

1 cup rice milk

1 1/4 cup pureed strawberries (add 2 tablespoons of evaporated cane juice to the strawberry puree)

5 drops red food coloring (optional, it just depends on how red the batter is already from the strawberries)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, evaporated cane juice, and guar gum. Then add the eggs, rice milk, and strawberry puree. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Do not over bake. This cake will rise and then fall. This makes it a little more moist and sticky. It needs to be that way to put into the other cakes. Let it cool. After it cools, break up the cake with a fork. Set aside until ready to put into the center of the vanilla cake.

For assembling directions it really is best if you watch the video to understand. Click here to watch the video.

Whipped Cream Frosting

Ingredients

3 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup organic powdered sugar

1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Pour cream into large bowl. With a hand mixer start mixing on low speed, gradually increasing the speed until the cream becomes thick. Then add organic powdered sugar and vanilla. Continue mixing until stiff peaks form. Keep refrigerated.

A little extra!!Because the frosting is whipping cream, it made the vanilla cake a little more sticky when I carved out the middle heart shape. It was perfect for making cake balls! So you actually get two desserts out of one!

Just smash the left over cake together. Roll into small balls. Put the balls back into the freezer until frozen. Then dip into melted chocolate or carob. Let set up and enjoy!Gotta love that! Hope you like these desserts and much as we did!!

Edit: Lisa once again asked me to link this recipe to her sweets for saturday's post on her blog, "sweet as sugar". Go check her out. Thanks Lisa!