Pound Cake Hearts.

 

****HAPPY OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENT LITTLE SISTER-PANTS****

 

****HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY SUPER-MUM****

 

Now you know I could be alllll lovely-dovey allllll day but I have to stop just for a sec so I can tell you about the clever thing that make these little heart shapes so red and hearty. You see I work for lovely Pots and Pans and we've just got new exciting things for our cakes decorating shelves in our lovely St Andrews shop. Have you heard of Candy Melts? Because we got some and I was excited because all the fancy American blogs that people do as an actual job use them to make cakes look not like cakes but some mega special art thing and as the shop's 'resident baker' it was my official job to Candy Melt test and here is what happened......

....great colour and shine (as long as you don't carry them around in a box and let them tumble around on top of each other), a little wobbly round the edges but I think that's just practice and knowing what jobs are best suited, and a flavour that's too good for how little actual food must be involved with making something so useful and something so red! So if you see them...and want to make cake look un-cake-like, buy them...I'm not exactly sure where else you'll find them in the UK....looks like a trip to Fife for you all it is then. With Love and Cake.

Pound Cake Hearts.

A few notes:

• I know you're meant to give pound cake recipes in, you know, pounds, but it's 2013 and I live in the UK......
• Don't throw away any cake that didn't make it into hearts, pop it in the freezer and use it for things like trifle or any time that you need cake crumbs (cake pops etc).

Makes around 18 hearts

You will need

1 x small brownie pan or baking tray, approx 27x20x3cm, lined

1 x 5cm-ish heart cutter

For the cake

110g butter, at room temperature

110g caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch salt

125g plain flour

For the coating

1 x 340g bag red Candy Melts

• Preheat the oven to 180°c.
• Beat the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand whisk (or wooden spoon if you're feeling energetic) until pale and fluffy looking.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla and and salt.
• Finally, fold in the flour gently until just combined.
• Spread the mixture out in your prepared tin and bake for 25 minutes, or until the cake is firm and golden.
• Remove the cake, still attached to the greaseproof paper that lined the tin, to a wire rack to cool completely.
• When cold, stamp out as many hearts as possible using your cutter.
• Now for the red. Treat the Candy Melts exactly like chocolate...so melt slowly and do not get any water aaaannnywhere near. I melted mine in a bowl in my microwave at 50% power, over 30 second blasts. Once they're mostly melted, don't heat any more, just set aside for a few minutes and they will get glossy and the residual heat will melt the final lumps.
• Using a teaspoon, spread a thin layer of melted Candy Melts over each heart...this can be a sort of crumb layer, where all the loose bits of cake can get set in the layer, so the final layer is smooth.
• When the crumb layer is mostly set, use a fresh teaspoon to cover all the hearts in another layer of Candy Melts (you can give them another quick blast in the microwave if they need melting down a bit); making sure this layer is smooth and shiny.
• Eat and be aaaaall loveydovey.