Mini Heart Shaped Cakes

5 from 1 vote

Learn to make these adorable mini heart shaped cakes with pink buttercream rosettes, gold sprinkles, and Cupid arrows. Perfect for Valentine's Day!

Prep Time30

Cook Time45

Decorating time1 30

Total Time2 45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cakes

Calories: 2832.2kcal

Prepare the arrow template and cut it out following the outline.
Roll the gum paste into a thin sheet. Place the arrow template on the gum paste and cut it out following the outlines. Make 4 sets of cut outs - 4 pieces of each of the front and rear sections of the arrows (see Note 1).
Leave 2 sets in open air (for about 10 minutes) so that they dry up and set a little quicker. Keep the other 2 sets covered as these should be soft.
To assemble, start with the arrow heads. Apply fondant glue all over the pieces of arrows that were kept covered. Attach a lollipop sticks to them (see Note 2).
Once the sticks are firm in place, lift them ( along with the gum paste pieces attached to it), turn over and place each one on the other arrow heads that were left to dry earlier. The lollipop stick should be positioned in between the 2 cut outs. Stick both pieces together. Make sure the bottom piece is flat and the top piece closely adjusted to the shape of the lollipop stick. Doing this will automatically result in the top gum paste piece to be smaller in size compared to the bottom piece (see Note 3).
Set the arrows aside to firm up. Place the top surface of the arrows facing down. This is to ensure the surface remains flat while drying. By doing this, you get a smooth flat surface for the arrow.
Mix gold dust with lemon extract to form thick gold paint (see Note 4). Paint it on the arrow and let it dry completely.

Prepare the arrow template and cut it out following its outline.
Turn your craft paper over, and trace the outlines of the arrow using the template as a guide (see Note 5). You will need 2 sets of heads and 2 sets of tails.
Attach one lollipop stick onto the back of each cutout. Start with the arrow heads. Secure the stick it in place with cellophane tape and cut off any excess on the sides.
Repeat the process for the other end of the arrow. Turn the arrow parts over and they were ready for use.

Preheat oven to 170 °Celsius.
Grease and flour a 6 inches square cake tin or line it with parchment paper.
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 milk, starting and ending with flour.
Finally add in the vanilla extract and combine well. Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and bake until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake come without any wet batter. 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 to cool completely.

Measure butter into a large bowl. Beat on medium speed until it turns creamy. Sift in the powdered sugar.
Mix into the butter with a spoon (see Note 6).
Once the sugar is fairly incorporated into the butter, cream it on medium high speed until the mixture turns light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract. Continue beating until the extract is well combined.
If the buttercream appears too stiff, add some milk of cream. Start with one teaspoon and increase in very small quantities until your buttercream is of a pipeable consistency.

Once the cakes are completely cool, cut out the heart template (measuring approximately 4 inches wide and 3.5 inches long).
Place it on the cake and cut out 2 heart shapes out of the cake (see Note 7).

Place each heart shaped cake on a separate plate or cake board (see Note 8). Apply a thin crumb coat on the sides and top of each cake. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Transfer the remaining pink buttercream into a piping bag fitted with star tip #18. Pipe rosettes all over the top and sides of cake. Pipe them as close as possible, and if there are any gaps, pipe overlapping rosettes and stars.
For the border, pipe a row of stars using the same pink icing and star piping tip.
Add one gold sprinkle (dragee) in the center of each rosette on the cakes.

Draw a straight line on a piece of paper (to use as a guide for poking the arrows).
Place the cakes on the paper (one at a time) and adjust the position such that the line on the paper runs diagonally underneath the cakes.
Carefully insert the front section of the arrow, using the line on the paper underneath as a guide, and do the same for the tail section. Push both sticks into the cake right until the sticks are no longer visible.
If the arrows too long for the cakes, remove from the cakes and cut off a portion of arrows to make them shorter and reattach to the cakes.

You will need 2 sets of cut outs to make one arrow (2 head sections and 2 tail sections). It is also advisable to make an extra one set (one head and one tail) for contingency.
Do not use too much glue or it will take the arrows a long time to set and dry. Also, place them starting as close as practical from the tip of the arrow.
This is intentional as the top piece is meant to become the bottom surface of the arrow in the end. It being slightly smaller makes sure there are no extras on the side that would later show from the top. Repeat the process for the tails of the arrows.
In mixing the paint, suffice if you add a few drops of the lemon extract into about ⅛ teaspoon of gold dust until it forms a thick paste. Mix it in a small container so that you can keep the balance for other decorating projects.
You may wish to make an extra arrow for contingency.
This step will avoid the sugar from flying when you turn on your mixer.
Level the cake first before carving if the cake is not level.
You can make your own custom sized cake boards for these mini cakes. See my tutorial on how to make cake boards.
To keep the cake moist, keep it covered with a kitchen towel as it cools down. As soon as it turns warm, wrap with a plastic wrap and keep it refrigerated until it cools down completely. You can leave the cake in the fridge until it is ready for carving.
It is easier to carve the cake when it is straight out of the fridge as it will be firmer and these will be less crumbs.