Do you already know how you’re going to surprise your significant other for Valentine’s Day? Food blogger Nina Kastelic suggests doing just that with a stunning heart-shaped cake made easy with Kenwood’s kMix food processor.
“We can surprise our loved ones in many ways and my favorite gift is definitely something I have made myself. That seems much more personal and genuine to me than expensive purchases. Last but not least, I donate my time, which I can only give to someone else,” says culinary blogger Nina Kastelic, who prepared a wonderful heart-shaped biscuit cake for Valentine’s Day.
“Chocolate Cream Cookie Heart is a slightly more special cake in that it’s made with three layers of crunchy sponge cake and a delicious milk chocolate cream layer in between,” says the author of culinary blog Leaneen, who says it’s a slightly more sophisticated recipe so the effort pays off end off. “It is best to prepare the cake two to three days in advance. The Kenwood kMix food processor made the preparation incredibly easy for me, which was a great help in preparing both the batter and the cream. The K-beater, which is indispensable when I have to beat butter or prepare a tender dough, has proven to be particularly practical.”
To make a heart-shaped cake you will need:
– Crunchy chocolate dough: 200g icing sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla pulp, 300g butter, 2 whole eggs, 2 egg yolks, 520g plain white flour, 12g baking powder and 40g cocoa powder
– Chocolate ganache: 600 g quality milk chocolate in drops, 400 ml sweet cream and 50 g butter
Preparation: Place the sugar, vanilla pulp and diced butter in the bowl of a food processor at room temperature. Start mixing on low speed, then increase and stir until smooth and shiny. Add the eggs and yolks and stir until the ingredients combine. Finally add the flour mixed with baking powder and cocoa and mix everything to a chocolate dough.
Wrap the prepared dough in cling film and place in the fridge for a few hours to set. Roll out the cooled one on baking paper, making the dough a little thicker than with classic cookies. Using the model, cut out the heart shape from the dough. You can make the model yourself by cutting out the desired shape from thicker paper or cardboard. You should get 3 equal portions of dough representing 3 layers of cookies, then bake the dough for about 15 minutes at 160 degrees with the fan on. When the dough is ready, cool it completely before assembling the cake.
For the chocolate ganache, bring the sweet cream to a near boil and remove from the heat just before boiling. Pour over the chocolate drops and wait half a minute, then stir with a whisk to melt the chocolate. Then add the diced butter. Cover the chocolate mass and refrigerate overnight to cool and set well and whip the next day for a wonderfully creamy texture. Put it in a spray bag with a metal nozzle.
When assembling the cake, first place the first layer of biscuits on the serving crust and sprinkle chocolate mousse over the top. Repeat the process two more times to end up with 3 layers of sponge cake and 3 layers of whipped cream. Feel free to add fresh raspberries in between if you like for freshness and along with chocolate, macaroons and crispy you can use them to decorate the top of the cake too. When the cake is done, place in the fridge overnight to soften and soak the layers a bit.
For more tips on how to make this wonderful heart-shaped cake, click here, but don’t forget to check out Nina’s other Valentine’s desserts too.
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