Be My Sweetheart Mini Cakes

These cake hearts are so cute and real easy and quick to make. This recipe is basically just cutting, opening a jar, and melting to make a beautiful and tasty dessert. You can get all the ingredients premade, like I did this time, or you can make any or all of them from scratch…but if you are already making other things for a Valentine’s Day meal, or other special meal, for your sweetheart then having one piece come together quickly makes your life easier.

I use white chocolate for the coating because I love the flavor. If you want the cakes to be a purer white then you can use candy melts…but the flavor of the chocolate is a lot better and I love the off white look, gives it a shabby chic look 🙂 .

You can even make these the day before, just do everything up to the plating (yes, add the cleaned raspberry on top too) and then refrigerate in a sealable container until the next day.

You can also use chocolate pound cake and fill it with the raspberry or even a peanut butter filling. Just warm some creamy peanut butter and brush the peanut butter on them instead of the fruit jam. If you do chocolate pound cake you can also just substitute milk or dark chocolate to make the ganache.

After cutting your shapes, use the scraps in a small trifle or just eat them as a snack…so good!

You will need:

• 1 butter pound cake (or flavor of your choice), about 12 ounces
• 1/4 cup of seedless raspberry jam (or flavor of your choice)
• 2 bars of white chocolate, 4 ounces each
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• Fresh raspberries, rinsed and dried well, for topping and plating
• Homemade or store bought whipped cream, for plating
• Heart cookie cutters

Steps:

1. Place pound cake in the refrigerator for an hour before cutting, or freezer for 30 minutes.
2. Take pound cake out of frig and cut into about 1/2 inch slices then using a cookie cutter that fits the size of the cake, cut out your hearts and lay on a small sheet pan. You can use a couple of sizes to make different sized cakes, and to make use of some of the bigger scraps.
3. Gently heat the raspberry jam in a small pot until it melts down.
4. Using a pastry brush, brush the jam onto the top of each heart piece. When done, brush a second coat onto the top.
5. Gently sandwich two cake pieces together, jam sides together, and store on the small sheet pan and put in the refrigerator to cool while you wash and dry the raspberries and make the white chocolate ganache.
6. Chop your white chocolate into small shards and put in a medium sized glass bowl.
7. Heat the heavy cream in a small pot until hot, but not boiling, and then pour over the chocolate and let sit for a few minutes before mixing.
8. Using a whisk, mix the chocolate and heavy cream mixture well until it is nice and creamy, it may take a minute or two.
9. Remove cakes from frig and put on a cooling rack and set rack over your sheet pan to catch the ganache.
10. Using a large spoon, drizzle the ganache over the cakes to cover all sides. After you have finished all of them go back and drizzle more on top or in places where you can still see some of the cake. You can get more ganache that feel on the pan to drizzle back on the cakes. Don’t worry if it looks rustic, it’s supposed to.
11. Let dry at room temperature for 30 minutes then top with a washed and dried raspberry. You can refrigerate it at this point in a closed container for a later time, but eat within a couple days for best flavor.
12. Serve on a plate smeared with more melted raspberry jam, in any style you want, whipped cream, and more raspberries.

Kali Orexi!