If you want to bake a cake for the special occasion of someone loved or for Valentine's day, this Easy Heart Shaped Cake is the perfect option. It is pretty, simple and has a fantastic taste!
How did I come up with the recipe
I found an interesting cake recipe in one of the dozens of cookbooks in my library: Peccati di gola - Irresistibili dolci al cioccolato (if you didn’t know, I am a cookbook junkie). I liked it because it was relatively simple and yet quite intriguing. I adapted it for my needs, baked the cake in a heart shaped pan and made a simple frosting and pretty glaze. Eventually the cake turned out really wonderful!
What is special about this cake
The cake base is gluten-free. Starch is used instead of flour. It makes the consistency really light and airy. In terms of the starch used, I can recommend tapioca and potato starch, but cornstarch would work as well. The best would be to use two different kinds together.
If you haven't tried gluten-free baking yet, this recipe is quite a good one to start with.
Gluten is the main binder in the dough, it is what makes it elastic. Starches, on the other hand, have a similar ability - they keep the moisture and help to bind the ingredients together. But still, the baked goods made with starch are gluten-free so they break into crumbs quite easily. That’s why it is very important the cake base to be refrigerated before cutting it into layers - that way you will avoid too many crumbs and potential broken layers.
How to make the frosting and the glaze
This Easy Heart Shaped Cake has the easiest frosting and glaze you can imagine! The frosting is a simple whipped cream with icing sugar and the glaze is made of melted coloured chocolate chips. And if you can't find the colour you like, that's not an issue: you can use white chocolate and your preferred gel food colouring.
This cake looks great decorated with sprinkles and candies but you can use your imagination and make it even prettier! In any case it will be definitely a hit at your party!
I hope you enjoy this recipe and I'll be very glad if you make it! Please share with me in the comments how it went!
Below you can see more gluten-free baked desserts:
- Vegan Double Chocolate Cookies {Gluten Free}
- Chia Seed Brownies (egg free, gluten free)
- Quick Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Keto Chocolate Cake with Mascarpone Frosting
📝 Recipe
Easy Heart Shaped Cake (gluten free)
Ingredients
For the cake base:
- 1 cup/ 130 g cornstarch, or potato or tapioca starch (see notes)
- ⅔ cup/ 130 g brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup/ 20 g cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tsp/ 30 ml olive oil, or other vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 1 ¾ cup/ 400 ml heavy whipping cream, cold
- ⅔ cup/ 80 g powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
For the glaze:
- 4,2 oz/ 120 g coloured chocolate chips
- 40 ml milk
Instructions
Cake Base:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Line a 9 inch/ 1,5 l heart shaped pan with a sheet of baking paper and grease well on top (if your pan is made of silicone, the paper is not necessary).
- In a bowl combine starch, cocoa powder and baking powder and stir.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer beat sugar with 3 yolks and 2 whites for 5-6 minutes, until thick and creamy. Add olive oil and vanilla and beat shortly again.
- Wash and wipe the beaters of the mixer and beat separately the remaining egg white in another bowl until thick foam.
- Using a rubber spatula gradually fold the dry ingredients into the eggs and sugar mixture. At the end fold in also the egg whites.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the cake cool until room temperature, then wrap it in cling film and transfer to the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Frosting:
- In a large bowl beat all ingredients until thick and creamy.
- To assemble the cake:
- Cut the refrigerated cake base into three equal layers. Place one layer on top of a serving plate and generously cover it with the frosting. Continue the process until using all layers. Make sure you have enough frosting to fill all the holes between the layers and a bit for the top and the sides. Refrigerate the cake for 6-8 hours or overnight. Cover with the glaze shortly before serving.
Glaze:
- Melt the chocolate on a double boiler and add the milk. Stir well until combined. Wait few minutes, until the glaze cools down a bit and spoon it on top of the cake.
- Decorate with sprinkles and candies.
Notes
- The best is to use a combination of two kinds of starch for the cake base.
- Cake base adapted from Peccati di gola - Irresistibili dolci al cioccolato
- For the glaze you can use white chocolate and colour it with gel food colouring.
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