Saying “I Love You” with cakes, candies and flowers has long been a tradition not only on Valentine’s Day but on many other occasions during the year.  So, what you use for Valentine’s Day does not have to be isolated to that event.  Many of us love to bake and cook and others of us love to eat what others have made for us.  Saying “Happy Valentine’s Day” with a cake can be a lovely tradition for your family and children.

If you are short on time, you can purchase a cake from your local bakery or supermarket.  If you love to bake and can spare some time to do it, you can easily make a delicious and beautiful cake for your family.  Of course, baking a cake from scratch, would probably be the best tasting one (that is, if you are good at following directions) but you can easily make a delicious one by using a cake mix and just deviating slightly from the package directions.

Heart-shaped cake pans can be purchased from your local culinary store or party shop or can be purchased on-line.  Heart-shaped pans come in many different variations from mini to large and from traditional to modern.  Look around and see what you would like to have.  For photos of decorated cakes please visit  my photos page.    To  make a cake using a cake mix just follow the directions below and you will have the start of a homemade master piece.  A frosting recipe can be found on our website.   Directions for frosting and decorating a cake will appear in our next article.

Ingredients needed:

1 box cake mix (any flavor)

1 pkg. Instant Pudding (flavor to match the cake

4 whole Eggs

½ cup Salad Oil

1 cup Water

Directions:

Cut a piece of baker’s parchment paper to fit you pan; spray the pan with a vegetable spray and then fit in the paper.  Adjust the oven shelf to the middle position and turn on to 350 degrees.

Combine all the Ingredients in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle beater or food processor fitted with the chopping blade.

If using an electric mixer, beat at low speed until all the ingredients are combined; turn off and push down the ingredients from the sides of the bowl, using a rubber spatula.

Turn back on and continue beating at medium speed for a full 2 minutes.

If using a food processor, pulse the ingredients together, remove the cover and push down the ingredients from the sides of the bowl, using the plastic spatula that came with the food processor.

Turn back on and run for a full minute.

Turn the batter into the prepared pan; tap gently on the counter to get rid of air bubbles.  (If using, layer pans, divide the batter in half for each pan)

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cake is golden brown.

Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack to cool for about 15 minutes.

To remove the cake from the pan, place the rack on top of the pan and gently turn over; the cake should easily release from the pan.  If it doesn’t, turn back over and run a straight edge spatula around the sides, the repeat the action with the cooling rack.

Allow to cool completely before frosting or decorating.