Valentine's heart cake tutorial

For the cake

• 15cm (6in) round cake, crumb-coated, on a cake board
• Buttercream: plain and pink
• Sugarflair gel colours in various shades of pink
• Sprinkles
• 50ml (2floz) double cream
• 50g (1¾oz) dark chocolate

Equipment

• Palette knife
• Metal cake scraper
• Piping bags
• Various piping nozzles, including Jem 2D, Wilton 104, small star
• Cocktail stick
• Turntable
• Handmade paper heart template

To cover the cake

1

Take your chilled crumb-coated cake (find a how-to video tutorial on [email protected]) and add a second layer of buttercream, around 5-10mm (¼-½in) thick. Add plain buttercream around the top, then a layer of pink around the bottom.

2

Next, take the metal scraper and gently smooth out the buttercream. Fill in any gaps and scrape again until smooth. You can wiggle your palette knife around the 2 colours to merge a little more before scraping again if you prefer a more blended look.

Create the heart

1

Take a heart template and lightly mark on the cake around this using a cocktail stick.

2

Colour three different shades of pink buttercream, then add to piping bags fitted with the three nozzles.

3

Colour three different shades of pink buttercream, then add to piping bags fitted with the three nozzles.

4

Colour three different shades of pink buttercream, then add to piping bags fitted with the three nozzles, To make swirls, gently squeeze and swirl your piping bag around in a circle, then stop squeezing and pull away. For stars, gently squeeze keeping the piping bag still, then stop squeezing and pull away. To make ruffles, gently squeeze and move your hand in a wiggle motion.

5

Once you’ve filled the heart shape with piping details, pop the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes.

To pipe the drips

1

Next, make the ganache drips. Use equal parts double cream (I used Elmlea) and dark chocolate and heat in the microwave until warm enough to melt; make sure not to overheat or boil it. Transfer the ganache to a piping bag.

2

Take the chilled cake from the fridge. Snip the end off the piping bag and begin piping over the end of the cake, starting at the back so you get the hang of it.

3

Pipe over the edge and remember, the more you pipe, the longer the drips will be. Continue around the cake, avoiding the heart shape at the front. Squeeze out the remaining ganache on the top of the cake, then spread around with a palette knife.

4

You can then start piping around the top edge of your cake like you did with the heart. Finish off the heart and cake with a few sprinkles.