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5 from 4 votes

Love Heart Loaf Cake

This Love Heart Loaf Cake has a luscious chocolate cake with a hidden love heart centre. Chocolate Buttercream, Chocolate Geometric Hearts and freeze-dried strawberries because I am a little obsessed with them at the moment.
Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time1 hour 20 minutes
Decorating Time45 minutes
Author: Sarah Mark

Ingredients

For the Geometric Hearts

  • 400 g Dark Chocolate
  • Edible Colour Lustre Dust

For the Pink Love Heart Cake

  • 200 g Unsalted Butter or Stork
  • 200 g Caster Sugar
  • 200 g Self-Raising Flour
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • Pink Food Colouring

For the Chocolate Loaf Cake

  • 200 g Unsalted Butter or Stork
  • 200 g Caster Sugar
  • 175 g Self-Raising Flour
  • 25 g Cocoa Powder
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 30 ml Whole Milk

For the Buttercream

  • 200 g Dark Chocolate
  • 300 g Icing Sugar
  • 150 g Unsalted Butter
  • 1-3 tbsp Whole Milk

For Decoration

  • Freeze Dried Strawberries or Sprinkles

Instructions

To Make the Geometric Hearts (optional)

  • Make this the night before the loaf cake as it will need to set in the fridge.
  • Bring a pan of water to a simmer. Break the chocolate up into small chunks and add three quarters of it to a heat proof bowl.
  • Set the bowl over the pan, make sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl. Stir the chocolate continuously until it melts to 55C.
  • Remove the bowl from the heat and add in the remaining chocolate. Stir the chocolate until it melts and reaches 27C.
  • Place the bowl back onto the pan of simmering water. Reheat the chocolate to 31C.
  • Pour the chocolate into your moulds and smooth the tops.
  • Place in the fridge to set overnight.
  • Once the chocolate has set, remove from the moulds and dust with edible lustre dust. Place them on a flat baking tray and leave to one side.

To Make the Love Heart Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 180C (160Fan) and line a loaf tin with parchment paper. Leave to one side.
  • In a bowl mix together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add in the flour, eggs, vanilla extract and baking powder and mix again until combined.
  • Add the pink food colouring a little at a time. Mix in between each addition until you reach the desired colour.
  • Pour the mixture into your loaf tin and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
  • Cut off the ends of the sponge, then score marks along the top of the cake the same thickness as your heart cutter.
  • Cut the sponge into slices following the score lines and then use your heart shaped cutter to cut out hearts from each piece. Put them on a flat baking tray and leave to one side.

To Make the Chocolate Loaf Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 180C (160CFan) and line a loaf tin with baking parchment. Leave to one side.
  • In a bowl mix together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder and milk and mix again until combined.
  • Pour some of the mixture into the bottom of your loaf tin around 2-3 cm high.
  • Set your heart shaped pink cake into the centre in a neat row. Leave a small gap around 1cm at the front and back of the loaf tin.
  • Fill the tin with the rest of the chocolate cake mixture. Ensuring that the love hearts are completely hidden. Remember and fill in the gaps at the front and back of the loaf tin with chocolate mixture.
  • Bake in the oven for 45-50minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  • Leave to cool fully in the tin.

To Make the Buttercream

  • While the cake is cooling make the buttercream.
  • In a heatproof bowl melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20-second bursts stirring in between until it is completely melted and smooth. Leave to one side.
  • In a bowl mix together the icing sugar and butter until it is combined. Add in the melted chocolate and mix again.
  • If the buttercream is too thick add 1tbsp of milk at a time and mix in between each addition until it reaches the desired consistency.
  • Put your buttercream into a piping bag.

To Decorate

  • Remove your loaf cake from the tin and place it on your serving plate. Pipe the buttercream over the top of the cake.
  • Place the on top of the cake. Finish with some sprinkles or freeze dried strawberries and then add your geometric hearts.
  • Cut into the loaf to reveal the hidden love heart.