In this Valentine's Day mini heart shaped cakes tutorial, I will be sharing with you my tips and tricks in decorating mini heart shaped cakes. The cakes are heart shaped and have a 3D arrow literally running through each of them.
The only difference between these two heart cakes is that one has an arrow made of craft paper and the other, an arrow made of gum paste.
If you are someone who prefer to decorate your cake a much as possible with edible items, then the gum paste arrow is something you could try. But if you need to fix the arrow within a very short period of time, the craft paper version would be useful. I have a separate tutorial on how to make these for cake decorating. You can read all about them here and here.
Back to the mini heart shaped cakes. The whole idea of making these mini heart shaped cakes was to cater for a single serving, or at most, 2 servings. That is if you and your partner are not big dessert eaters. With an overall measurement of 4 inches in width and length and a height of approximately 1.25 inches (with frosting), these cakes would be perfect if you are looking into making small portioned cakes for Valentine’s Day. Just nice for you and your other half.
Decorating the Mini Cakes
Decorating these heart shaped cakes is very easy. I used buttercream to decorate them, in piped rosette design. And since the cakes were small, I used a smaller star tip (Wilton tip #18) to pipe the rosettes instead of the larger 2D tip that I would normally use for full sized cakes (cakes that measure 6 inches and more in diameter).
And for a change, I chose pink as the main color instead of the typical bright red tone used for Valentine's Day cakes. The heart cakes were single tiered. And it was convenient that I had mini heart shaped cake tins that I could use to bake the cakes. So, there was no carving required. Since the tins were pretty small, it was not very practical to mix cake batter just for the cakes. So I actually made a moist lemon cake (see the recipe here) and after filling 2 of the heart cake tins I had, I baked the remaining cake in a bowl mold.
How to Make Heart Shaped Cakes with Rosettes Icing
These were the main supplies I used to decorate these mini heart shaped cakes:
- Cake – The cakes were lemon-flavored, baked using my lemon cake recipe.
- Buttercream – I used buttercream to pipe the rosettes on the heart-shaped cakes.
- Gum paste – I used gum paste to make one of the arrows.
- Gold dragees
- Wilton pink food color
- Wilton star tip 18
- Disposable piping bags
- Lollipop sticks – these were the sticks for my arrows.
- Fondant glue
- Edible gold dust & lemon extract – I mixed these to create the gold paint
- Gold glitter craft paper
- Cellophane tape
- Scissors
- Sugar craft knife
- Arrow template
And this was how I decorated the cakes:
Baking the heart shaped cakes
- I started by baking the cakes first. Like I mentioned earlier, I had mini heart shaped cake tins with me (3 in total) which I purchased from a local cake decorating supplies shop. I have been having them for a while now.
- And finally, with this cake, I used them for the first time. So it was very convenient for me to bake the heart shaped cakes directly in cake tins. If you don’t have the tins, you can always bake the cake in a round cake tin. Once baked, use a paper template to carve the shape out.
Mini heart shaped cake out of the tin
The cupid arrows
- While waiting for the heart shaped cakes to bake and cool down, I made the arrows. To make them, I drew a template on a piece of paper. I used it as a guide to cut my gum paste and craft paper. In drawing the template, I estimated the size so that it was neither too big nor too small for the size of the heart cakes.
- I then cut out the paper template and used it to cut out the parts out of gum paste. I made two sets of cutouts for each. And I had them all painted and dried before inserting into my cake. Click here for step by step instructions on how I made the gum paste arrows.
- Next was the craft paper version. Again, using the same template, I cut the paper out (in 2 parts) and attached to lollipop sticks. No drying time was required as I used cellophane tape. Click here for the full tutorial.
Covering the cakes in buttercream
- Next were the cakes. I chose not to level the heart cakes as the slight bulge on the top was actually good to give the finished hearts a puffed look.
- And so, I placed the cakes on white plates and started piping the rosettes all over, including the sides. And I overlapped the rosettes in some parts on the cake to cover all the gaps between the first layer of buttercream rosettes.
- For the border, I piped a row of stars using the same pink icing and star piping tip.
- With the piping work over, I added one gold dragee in the center of each rosette on the cakes.
Attaching the arrows to the heart shaped cakes
- And finally, I attached the gold arrows, one set on each cake. To make sure the lollipop sticks were poked into the cakes in a perfect straight line, I drew a straight line on a piece of paper and used it as a guide for poking them into the cakes.
- I placed my cake plates on the paper (one at a time) and adjusted the position such that the line on the paper ran in a diagonal position underneath the cake plate, in the exact position I wanted my arrows to be positioned on my cakes.
- And carefully, I inserted the front part, using the line on the paper underneath as a guide, and did the same for the rear end. And I pushed both sticks into the cake right until the sticks were no longer visible.
Adjusting the arrows size
- At this point, initially, I felt that the arrows were a bit too long for the size of the cake and so decided to adjust the lengths. I removed them from the cakes and cut off a portion of the sticks, both the craft paper and the gum paste.
- And then I reinserted them and had perfectly sized ones for my mini heart shaped cakes.
With that, my Valentine's Day mini cakes were complete.
Like this heart shaped cake design? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:
- How to Make Easy Paper Arrows for Cake Decorating
- Gum Paste Arrow Tutorial
- Chocolate Heart Cookies for Valentine's Day
- How to Make Puffed Fondant Hearts without Cutters and Molds
- Vanilla Buttercream Cake with Buttercream Flowers
Recipe (Printable)
Here is the full printable version my mini heart shaped cakes recipe and decorating tutorial.
Heart Shaped Cakes
Equipment
- Wilton star tip 18
- Disposable piping bags
- Lollipop sticks – these will form the sticks for the arrows.
- Edible gold dust & lemon extract – mix these to create the gold paint
- Gold glitter craft paper
- Cellophane tape
- Scissors
- Sugar craft knife
- Arrow template
Ingredients
Cake
- 180 g self raising flour
- 180 g granulated sugar
- 180 g butter
- 3 eggs
- 1½ tablespoon lemon zest
- 6 tablespoon buttermilk
Decoration
- Buttercream
- Gum paste – For one of the arrows.
- Gold dragees
- Wilton pink food color
Instructions
Baking the heart shaped cakes in square cake tin
- The instructions below are for making the cake in a square cake tin and cutting the individual heart shaped cakes out of it.
- Preheat oven to 170 °Celsius.
- Grease and flour your a 9 inches square cake tin or line it with parchment paper.
- Grate the zest of lemons (about one and a half lemons) and set aside.
- In a clean bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Sift the flour and fold it into the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, starting and ending with flour.
- Finally add in the grated lemon zest and combine well. Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and bake until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake come out clean, with just one or two crumbs stuck to it. Do not over bake the cake.
- Remove the cake from oven and let it rest in the cake tin for a few minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack.
- Once completely cool, cut out a paper template heart (measuring approximately 4 inches long and wide and use it to cut out 2 heart shapes out of the cake. Set aside until ready to decorate.
Making the cupid arrows
- Draw the arrow template on a piece of paper. In drawing the template, estimate the size so that it is proportionate to the size of the heart cakes.
- Cut out the paper template and use it to cut out the parts out of gum paste. For contingency, it is advisable to make two cutouts in gum paste. Paint the arrow and set it aside for the paint to dry.
- Next make the craft paper version. Again, using the same template, I cut the paper out (in 2 parts) and attached to lollipop sticks with cellophane tape.
Covering the cakes in pink buttercream rosettes
- Next, decorate the cakes. For a puffed heart look, do not level the cakes. The slight bulge on the top will give the heart shaped cakes a puffed look.
- Place the cake on cake boards or plates and pipe rosettes all over, including the sides. Overlap the rosettes in some parts on the cake to cover all the gaps between the first layer of buttercream rosettes.
- For the border, pipe a row of stars using the same pink icing and star piping tip.
- Once the piping work is over, add one gold dragee in the center of each rosette on the cakes.
Attaching the cupid arrows to the mini heart cakes
- And finally, attach the gold arrows, one set on each cake. To make sure the lollipop sticks were poked into the cakes in a perfect straight line, draw a straight line on a piece of paper and use it as a guide for poking them into the cakes.
- Place my cake plates on the paper (one at a time) and adjusted the position such that the line on the paper run in a diagonal position underneath the cake plate, in the exact position you want your arrows to be positioned on the heart cakes
- And carefully, insert the front part, using the line on the paper underneath as a guide, and do the same for the rear end. And push both sticks into the cake right until the sticks were no longer visible.
Adjusting the arrow length
- At this point, if you find the arrows to be too long for the size of the cake, you can adjust them. Remove them from the cakes and cut off a portion of the sticks, both the craft paper and the gum paste.
- And then reinsert them to complete the decoration on the mini heart cakes.
Nutrition
And that's my easy mini heart shaped cake decoration design for you!
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.
Happy decorating 🙂
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