Hidden Heart Valentine’s Cake

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Surprise your loved ones on Valentine’s Day with this Hidden Heart Valentine’s Cake. It’s simple to make and guaranteed to impress, with a hidden heart in each slice. How cute is that?

hidden heart cake

Hidden Heart Valentine’s Cake

This valentine’s loaf cake is super easy to make and can be adapted for any occasion! I used my go-to orange bundt cake recipe as a base. This Bundt cake is fluffy, moist and delicious!

HEART CAKE INGREDIENTS

This recipe is flexible. You can use your favorite white Bundt cake recipe or if you’re not up to baking from scratch, use a Bundt cake mix. For my orange cake recipe, here is what you’ll need to make Hidden heart valentine’s cake.

  • Granulated sugar
  • Eggs
  • Orange juice
  • Vegetable Oil
  • All purpose flour
  • Baking powder
  • Vanilla extract
  • Milk
  • Pink or Red food coloring
  • White chocolate chips- for the glaze
  • Valentine’s sprinkles

SUPPLIES FOR THE HIDDEN HEART LOAF CAKE

Hidden Heart Valentine's cake

HOW TO MAKE HIDDEN HEART VALENTINE’S CAKE:

(Full recipe at the end of this post, with exact measurements and a printable option. Below you will find helpful pictures.)

  • Preheat oven to 350°
  • Line an 8 inch square baking dish and a loaf pan with parchment paper and lightly grease with baking spray.
  • Make the white cake batter: I used this orange Bundt recipe, but you can use your favorite vanilla Bundt cake recipe or a cake mix.

Make the pink cake and cut out the heart shapes:

Transfer 1.5 cups of the orange cake batter to a bowl and add pink food coloring to desired color.

pink food coloring mixed with white cake batter
  • Spread the pink batter into the square baking pan. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean.  
  • Let it cool completely, then use the heart cookie cutter to cut out as many hearts as you can get.
heart cut out cake

Assemble the heart cake:

  • Spoon a thin layer of the orange cake batter into the prepared loaf pan.
  • Evenly set in the cut out hearts to the center of the loaf, not leaving space between them.
assembling the heart loaf cake
  • Then cover the entire loaf with the rest of the orange cake batter and bake.
  • Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted to the center of the loaf comes out clean.
  • Cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing or adding a glaze topping- if desired.
valentine's day cake

HOW TO MAKE CAKE GLAZE

You can leave the cake as-is, or you can pour a white chocolate glaze on top. Add 1 cup white chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl, and heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Pour over the hidden heart loaf, and spread out evenly then sprinkle with your favorite valentines sprinkles.

heart inside cake

How to Store Hidden Heart Valentine’s Cake:

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.

More Valentine’s Day Desserts:

Strawberry Chocolate Brownies

Chocolate Dipped Heart Cookies

No Bake Strawberry Tart

No Bake Jello Cheesecake

Hidden Heart Cake Recipe

hidden heart cake

Hidden Heart Valentine's Cake

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Surprise your loved ones on Valentine’s Day with this Hidden Heart Valentine's Cake. It's simple to make and guaranteed to impress. And a hidden heart in each slice, how cute is that?

Ingredients

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups orange juice
  • 3/4 cup oil
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 whole lemon zest
  • 1 whole orange zest
  • Pink food coloring
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips or chocolate melts
  • Valentines sprinkles

Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350°
    2. Line an 8 inch square baking dish and loaf pan with parchment paper and lightly grease with baking spray.

Make the orange cake batter:

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder well and set aside.
  2. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat in eggs, orange zest, lemon zest and vanilla extract until bubbly. 
  3. Add sugar and beat well until light and fluffy.
  4. Pour the orange juice and beat some more. 
  5. Add oil and milk and continue beating.
  6. Then add the dry ingredients over the already mixed batter with the mixer on low. Beat just until it comes together.

Make the the pink cake:

  1. Transfer 1.5 cups of the orange cake batter to a bowl and add pink food coloring to desired color.
  2. Spread pink batter into the square baking pan.
  3. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean.  
  4. Let it cool completely on a cooking rack, then use the heart cookie cutter to cut out as many hearts as you can get.


Assemble the heart cake:

  1. Spoon a thin layer of the orange cake batter into the prepared loaf pan.
  2. Evenly set in the cut out hearts to the center of the loaf, not leaving space between them.
  3. Then, cover the entire loaf with the rest of the orange cake batter and bake.
  4. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted to the center of the loaf comes out clean.
  5. Cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing or adding a glaze topping- if desired.

How to make the white chocolate glaze:

  1. Add 1 cup white chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl, and heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
  2. Pour over the hidden heart loaf, and spread out evenly then sprinkle with your favorite valentines sprinkles.
    Nutrition Information:
    Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
    Amount Per Serving: Calories: 320Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 157mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 1gSugar: 29gProtein: 6g

    Please note that the nutrition label provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use.

    Did you make this recipe?

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

    2 Comments

    1. Waiting for valentines day so that I make this delicious cake for my love. I have bookmarked this post and am very excited to try it out, thank you so much for putting up this article.

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