Today we have a guest post by Kelly’s friend, Anna! She made this amazing Valentine’s Chocolate Cake for her boyfriend over the weekend and it was a hit! Anna and Kelly were in the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority together at USC. She currently lives in Seattle, WA.  Thanks for sharing with us, Anna! 

Valentine’s Day was this weekend and it’s always a dilemma what to get your special someone. I had a lot of gift ideas and love buying my boyfriend gifts. But we were going skiing this weekend and with my budget I didn’t want to buy an expensive gift. My boyfriend loves sweets and is gleeful just at the mention of dessert. So I thought why not bake a cake!

I did some searching and found two easy recipes to make this cake. The cake itself is a one bowl chocolate cake. In my small apartment it was a perfect option because I don’t have much counter space for many bowls. I used two different sized heart shaped cake tins that were actually my grandmas. She was an avid baker (her maiden name was even Baker!) and I have been lucky enough to be given a lot of her old supplies. I baked a large and small cake first. And then once the pan was cool, I baked one more large heart.

And then I did a strawberry buttercream. I used a half recipe. The strawberry preserves although already sweet, really seemed to help cut the sometimes overly sugar flavor of buttercream. The recipe called for seedless but I used one that had some chunks in it and once it all got stirred it didn’t seem to affect the frosting.

To top it all off, I added candy hearts for an extra Valentine’s design.

-Anna G. 

One Bowl Chocolate Cake (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Strawberry Buttercream (adapted from Handletheheat.com)

• o   3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• o   8 ounces (2 sticks or 1 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• o   1/3 cup seedless strawberry preserves
• o   A dash of fine salt
• o   1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• o   Pink gel food coloring, if desired

Preparations

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two heart shaped cake pans.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then remove to a wire rack. Put in refrigerator to cool completely.
4. When you are ready to stack and frost, cut off arched top to make cake flat.
5. For the buttercream, combine sugar and butter in a mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
6. Add in the raspberry preserves, salt, and vanilla and beat on medium for 1 minute.
7. Add about 4 drops gel food coloring, if using, and beat until the buttercream is evenly colored.
8. Place one larger heart shaped cake on a plate and spread a layer of strawberry buttercream. Place the second heart shaped cake on top and cover in buttercream. Coat the sides as well. This is just like a crumb coat so it is ok if some chocolate crumbs combine with the buttercream.
9. Finally, place the smaller heart shaped caked on top and frost. Add the final touch of candy hearts.
10. Refrigerate until ready to serve.