Candy Heart Carrot Cake for Two

For the cake: 

4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 cup oil
2/3 of a cup applesauce
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp each: baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 cups grated carrot.


Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed for one minute or until everything is combined.  Pour batter into to greased and floured eight-inch cake pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Trim the tops of the cakes to make them flat in the center.

Cut a heart out of construction paper and use it as a guide to cut your cakes into heart shapes.

Save the pieces you cut off and use them in place of bread in a baked french toast recipe or a bread pudding!  Or just feed them to the hoards of suddenly-famished children that have eagerly and curiously collected at your feet.

Slice each heart into two layers to make a total of four layers.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 8oz package of cream cheese
2 TBSP butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
 a dash of pink food colouring

Combine ingredients in a stand mixer and whip on high  for a couple minutes until smooth.

Construct cake with cream cheese icing between each layer. Place cake in the fridge for an hour so that the icing can firm up a little.

 

Print your candy heart sentiment from your computer and cut the letters out with a craft knife. Use a sans-serif font and all capitals to mimic the look of  a candy heart.

Place your stencil on the cake and press down softly.

Add some blue or teal food colouring to a small amount of pink icing and spread a thin layer of blue or purple icing over your stencil.

Carefully lift your stencil...

 Phew, it worked!

Place in the fridge to share with somebody you love on Valentine's Day!

Our super romantic Valentine's Day plan is to put the kids to bed, light candles, play Carcassonne, and eat cake.  What are you doing for Valentine's Day?