Hidden Heart Chocolate Loaf Cake

Chocolate loaf cake with a hidden pink heart inside, and chocolate buttercream, perfect for Valentine's Day!

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cake

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 1 40

Total Time 2 20

Servings

Calories 734kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the pink sponge

175 g Baking spread softened
175 g Caster sugar
3 Eggs large
1 tsp Vanilla extract
175 g Self raising flour
Pink food colouring professional food grade e.g. Sugarflair, Colour Mill or Pro Gel

For the chocolate sponge

175 g Baking spread softened
175 g Caster sugar
3 Eggs large
1 ½ tbsp Milk
150 g Self raising flour
35 g Cocoa powder
½ tsp Baking powder

For the buttercream

100 g Butter softened, unsalted
200 g Icing sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp Milk
50 g Dark chocolate melted

For decoration

Heart sprinkles optional

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre heat the oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin
Make the pink sponge first. Mix the baking spread and sugar together for around 3 minutes until fluffy, for the best results use an electric mixer - either handheld or a stand mixer
Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix in
Gently fold or whisk in the self raising flour, and enough pink food colouring to get a strong shade
Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for around 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean
Leave it to cool completely, cut off the thinner ends of the sponge, then score marks along the top of the cake the same thickness as your heart shaped cutter
Cut the sponge into slices following the scored lines and then use your heart shaped cutter to cut out hearts from each piece of cake. Set aside
Make the chocolate sponge. Mix the baking and sugar together for around 3 minutes until fluffy, for the best results use an electric mixer - either handheld or a stand mixer
Add the eggs and milk, and mix in
Gently fold or whisk in the self raising flour, baking powder and the cocoa powder
Put about 2 tbsp of the mixture into the bottom of the tin and smooth it out, set the heart shaped pink cake cut outs into it neatly in a row
Spoon the remaining mixture around and on top of the pink sponge hearts, or you can pipe the cake batter in using a piping bag. Make sure to fully enclose the pink cake with the chocolate cake batter
Bake for around 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean, allow to cool fully
To make the buttercream, mix the butter on it's own for a couple of minutes, then add the icing sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Mix until combined. Then add the melted dark chocolate and mix until smooth. For best results use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a handheld electric mixer. If the buttercream is too stiff then you can add a little more milk
Spread or pipe the buttercream over the sponge and sprinkle on some heart sprinkles too if you like
Slice to reveal the hidden heart design! Store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 3 days

Video

Notes

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
For the best flavour, make sure to use a good quality vanilla extract and not an essence.
I used a baking spread for the cakes and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
You will need to use a professional grade food colouring to get the same shade of pink that you can see in my photos. Brands I recommend are Pro Gel and Sugarflair. Colour Mill and Americolor are also good quality brands.
You will need a 2lb loaf tin for this recipe (you can test the size of your loaf tin by seeing how much water the tin can hold, 2lb will hold about 2 pints/1100ml of water). If you have a 1lb loaf tin, simply halve the ingredient amounts.
For easy lining of the tin, use a loaf cake tin liner.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition