Valentine's Cake of Dreams

You asked for it, so here it is! A step by step guide to this beauty of a cake with a heart shape full of Dolly Mix sprinkles. It’s a real show stopper, and pretty easy (shhhhh!). It’s sitting proudly on top of a glass cake stand from Anthropologie, one of my all time favourites.

Right, let’s begin. Start with your cake mixture of choice, you could even use one of our baking kits, and instead of putting the sprinkles on top, you can add them using the method below. Use a buttercream (can be made with dairy free butter), or Swiss meringue buttercream to apply a thin crumb coat to the cake. This locks in all the crumbs, and ensures when you apply your next layer you will get an smooth, even surface with no pesky crumbs peeping through. To do this, you only need a thin layer, but make sure the whole cake is covered and the sides and top are as smooth as possible. For super smooth sides I recommend a scraper from Finch Bakery. Once complete, pop it in the fridge - this will make it easier when you add your final later of buttercream.

Once your crumb coat has dried, remove from the fridge and add your top layer of buttercream. Use a cake scraper to ensure you have perfectly smooth sides. Once you are happy, pop it back in the fridge for another 20 mins or so until it has hardened again. Now, you’re ready for the fun stuff!

Take a square of greaseproof paper, which fits nicely on the front of your cake, fold it in half, and cut out the shape of half a heart. Open out and voila…a perfectly symmetrical heart.

Now position this on the front of your cake and use some left over buttercream to paste into the heart shaped stencil, not too much, but enough for your sprinkles to stick to. When you’re happy with your positioning, place your cake in some sort of dish or roasting tin, this is to catch any excess sprinkles. Believe me, you want to do this or you will be clearing up sprinkles for days!

Now, tip a handful of sprinkles into the palm of your hand and press your hand into the heart shape on the cake. Press firmly to ensure the sprinkles are nestled nicely in the buttercream. Repeat until you have a full heart. You can fill in the gaps with tweezers if necessary.

When you’re happy, carefully peel off the greaseproof stencil and admire your handy work! Again, you can fill in any gaps at this point.
To finish off, add a couple of swirls to the top of your cake using a piping nozzle, I used Wilton 2D for this from Hobbycraft.

For added show stopping power, top with one of our party animal cake toppers!