Cooking with Doyle

I made this cake for a friend's birthday.  It looks cool and tastes just as good.  I cheated and used store-bought frosting, though.  If you want to be adventurous then you could make homemade chocolate frosting.

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

• Cake
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1.5 oz red food coloring
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp white vinegar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
• White Chocolate Frosting
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 8 ounces white chocolate
  • 1 tbsp dark rum
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 cans dark chocolate frosting
• 1 tube white frosting for decorating

Directions

1. For the cake, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and food coloring until smooth.  Set aside.
3. In another bowl, whip the butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and cocoa mixture.
4. Add one third of the flour mixture, beat well, and then add 1/2 of the buttermilk and beat well.  Add another third of the flour mixture, again beating followed by the remaining buttermilk.  Finally, add the remaining flour.
5. Grease and flour two heart-shaped pans, and heat your oven to 350°F.
6. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda (it will fizz).  Quickly mix it into the cake batter, mix well, and then divide the batter between the two pans.
7. Bake at 350°F for 25-35 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.
8. For the white chocolate frosting, combine the cream and chocolate in a saucepan.  Heat slowly until they are well mixed.  Bring to a boil for 2 1/2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let sit until cool.
9. Add the rum and whip the white chocolate frosting with an electric mixer while gradually adding the confectioners' sugar until you have a thick frosting.  You will have to use it immediately because it will become hard once it sets.
10. Place the first cake on a heart-shaped piece of cardboard.  Cover with the white chocolate frosting, and then lay the second cake on top.  Use the remaining frosting to coat the top and sides.  Let set.
11. Use the chocolate frosting to fully coat the top and sides.  Smooth the frosting out to get an even surface.  Pipe long lines of white frosting across the top of the heart for decoration.  Store in the refrigerator.