Heart Cake

You don’t need a special pan to make a heart-shaped cake, just a little geometry. Bake one round layer and one square layer, then turn the square so it sits like a diamond. Cut the round layer in half and set each half-circle along the two top sides of the diamond, and there’s your heart, point at the bottom, two curves up top.

It’s a brilliant trick for Valentine’s Day, birthdays, or anniversaries, and it works with any cake you like, here finished in pink strawberry frosting.

The assembly is the whole recipe, so the cake itself can be a from-scratch favorite or a simple boxed mix. Either way, the shape does the impressing.

Trim the round halves a little if needed so they meet the square cleanly with no gaps.

Kitchen Tips

• Cool both layers completely before cutting and assembling, or warm cake tears and crumbles.
• Use a round and a square pan of matching size (8-inch each) so the halves line up neatly on the square.
• Apply a thin crumb coat of frosting first, chill briefly, then do the final coat for a clean, seamless heart.
• Set the pieces on the serving tray before frosting; it’s nearly impossible to move once assembled.

Variations

• Use any cake and frosting flavor: chocolate with raspberry, vanilla with cream cheese, lemon with berry.
• Decorate with fresh strawberries, sprinkles, or piped borders to hide the seams.
• Tint the frosting any color for different holidays.