Favorites-An outlet for all things related to food: A Valentine’s Day Gift Box of…

Thursday, March 24, 2011

A Valentine’s Day Gift Box of…

Cake… Yes, cake.
The truffles…

The box…all cake!
Don’t believe me? Well keep reading and I’ll show you how to make this little Sweet Heart Cake.

First, you’ll need to grease and flour at least one heart-shaped cake pan. I used one that’s about 8″ wide and used a round cake pan for the rest of the batter.
Now, mix your ingredients and pour in the pans. (The Red Velvet Cake recipe I used made a cake that was really too greasy, so I’m not going to post it. But you can just as easily use any cake recipe or cake mix for this.)
Bake the cakes and let cool.
When cool, take a pencil and trace the shape of your cake onto wax paper.

After you’ve outlined your cake, draw a second outline about .25 inch around the outside of the first heart shape. You can eyeball it.
Go back to your cake or cakes and level them by cutting off the tops with a long serrated knife.
Keep the excess. You can use it later.
Okay, now you’ll need some red fondant. You can tint fondant red yourself or take the easy way and buy it already colored. (It’s a real pain to tint fondant red and get the color you want, so I’m buying this stuff anytime I can help it.)

Work on a clean dry surface and sprinkle a little cornstarch before you begin working with the fondant. If you don’t, it will start to stick to the surface. Work with just the amount you need and keep all the rest wrapped up tightly with plastic wrap. It dries out quickly.
Now use a rolling pin or fondant roller and roll it flat. You’ll need to roll it larger than your heart shape template.
With scissors, cut the wax paper along the outer edge of your heart shape to make the template. Then, gently hold the template in place on your fondant and use a toothpick to trace the heart shape.
Remove the wax paper and carefully cut out the shape with a knife. Use the toothpick marks as your guide.

This piece of fondant is going to be the bottom of your cake box. Lay it on a plate, cake board or cake stand. I used a round cake board and a few doilies to place the fondant on. Now use a little of your frosting to coat a layer on the inner section of your fondant heart shape.
Place the cake on the fondant and center it. The frosting helps hold it in place.
Now, frost the top and smooth it out.
Go back to your wax paper template and cut out the inside heart shape. Use this new template for the top of the cake box. Roll and cut out another piece of fondant to use to cut out the heart for the top of the cake the same way you did for the bottom.

Place the fondant heart shape on top of the cake so that it’s centered with the bottom layer of fondant. Frost the sides carefully. Make it as smooth as possible. Use a paper towel and gently remove any excess frosting that may get on the bottom edge or the top of the cake.
Now roll out a long strip of fondant.
Using a straight edge, cut the sides off so you have a long even piece of fondant. You’ll want the width of this piece be at least .25″ wider than the height of your cake so that it forms the sides of the box to hold the truffles.
Carefully, wrap the sides of the cake with this strip of fondant. Again, the frosting will help hold the fondant in place. The smoother your frosting is, the smoother the sides of your box will be. And, voila… Sweet Heart Candy Cake Box!

Now, you just need to fill it with truffles.
You can use the other cake and excess trimmings to crumble and make red velvet cake balls.
Read the original how-to for the Red Velvet Cake Balls.
(Keep in mind that this recipe used the entire cake for cake balls, so you will want to cut down on the amount of frosting you use to make them work. Start small and add more as you need it until the consistency is moist enough to mold and still hold it’s shape. )

I just decorated these different ways with candy writers, heart sprinkles, nuts and drizzled candy melts. You can take this a step further by really making it an assorted box of chocolate. Go all out and make the cake balls with different cake flavors.