Category: Halloween, Valentine's Day
Yields:
10 Servings
Difficulty: Difficult
Welcome back my ghouls. Last year on Halloween I had so much fun creating a realistic brain cake. I knew this year I wanted to create something bloodier and creepier. What could possibly be more creepy than a bloody heart.
As always this recipe is lactose and dairy free providing you use the right ingredients. Make sure you check and double check every ingredient to make sure it is safe. I have tested this recipe using all lactose free products and found it prefect.
To make this cake you will need a heart drawing to refer to. The heart drawing that you want to use should be clear and easy to understand. It is up to you how realistic you want to go regarding your cake design. I just went with a basic one that showed the shape and the three-individual tube-like parts at the top. Print the heart drawing out that matches the size of cake you want to make. Make sure you have one cut out completely and another one to refer to.
Ingredients
Adjust Servings
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Chocolate Cake
- Decorating
Instructions
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Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 140°C. Grease a large springform cake tin.
- Place two Wilton bake even strips in a bowl or water.
- Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until smooth. There should be no lumps.
- Tip the mixture into the prepared tin. Grab the strips and wring them so all the excess water is removed. The strips should be damp but not dripping. Place the strips around the edge of the cake tin. One at the bottom and one at the top.
- Bake at a low temperature for 45 minutes to an hour. Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean, then the cake has finished cooking.
- When the cake has finished cooking let it sit for a few minutes. Take a knife and run it around the edge of the cake. Use oven gloves and take the outside ring off. Place the cake aside to cool down completely. Decorating
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The first step is to shape the cake. Take the cut out heart picture and place it on top of the cooled cake. Place a skewer or toothpick in the center of the picture pinning it to the cake. Cut out a rough shape leaving a boarder around the edge.
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Take away the excess cake. Don’t discard it. Like I said before those leftovers are perfect in a trifle. Just add some jelly, fruit and custard and you will be in heaven.
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Place the cake on a cake turntable. Place a second skewer through the bottom of the picture pinning it into the cake to ensure it wont move. Use a sharp knife and this time cut away around the edge carefully following the shape of the stencil. It may help to cut out the shapes of the tube structures at the top. It helps greatly to leave a section at the top to place the tubes onto otherwise they will flop down the side of the cake.
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Carefully slice of the very top layer of the cake. Trim the sides of the cake so it slopes down to the base. Do the same thing starting from the middle of the cake down to the bottom so it is almost shaped like a ball.
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Grab the icing and apply a thin layer to the cake to crumb coat it. Leave in the fridge for 15 minutes. Apply a second thin layer of icing. Place the cake in the fridge again for 15 minutes. Moving onto the fondant work. You may notice that your fondant is dry, a great way to combat dry fondant is to use a small amount of baking glycerin. It is clear and colorless that will make it lovely and soft for easier application. The next step is to thinly roll out your bright red fondant. It should be big enough to cover the entire heart. Gently lift the fondant and place it onto the cake. Use your hands to smooth the fondant down. Be careful not to apply too much pressure with your fingertips as you may make dents.
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Cut off the excess fondant at the bottom and press so it fits against the bottom.
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When we look at a realistic human heart diagram those three tubes at the top are the superior vena cava on the left, in the middle there is the aortic arch and on the right is the left pulmonary artery. To avoid confusion, I will just refer to those three areas as the left, middle and right tube sections. Starting with the very right part. Take a piece of the bright red fondant and roll it into a tube. This is where you need the reference pic. Take the tube and measure it against your image to make sure the thickness of the tube matches.
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Cut off the end of the tube. Press the large end of the ball tool into the center of the tube end. Roll it around to create a little crater.
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Grab the other end of the tube and cut off the end to match the size of your reference picture. Use the rolling tool to flatten the opposite side slightly.
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Apply a little bit of glue to the bottom of the section and press it gently onto the cake. Repeat this to make the other two sections. Roll, check, shape with ball tool, check again and glue down. Use your image as a guide.
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In every model and picture of a human heart you can always see three tube like structures coming off the aortic arch (middle part). These are knows as the brachiocephalic trunk, left common carotid artery and the left subclavian artery. To create these simply roll three small tubes of the bright red fondant. Apply a small amount of the edible glue to the ends and gently press onto the aortic arch (middle arching part).
- Now that everything is in place it is time to move onto the veins. A fondant extruder makes this so much easier. Unwind the extruder and roll your bright red fondant into a tube. Use the smallest and second smallest faceplates. Make long tubes of the bright red fondant with both size faceplates.
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Grab your dark red fondant and repeat this process. Make long tubes with the two sized faceplates. Cut pieces of the thicker bright red fondant and place onto the cake. Starting from the edge of the left pulmonary artery trailing across to the bottom left. Use small pieces of the thin fondant to create small veins branching off the thicker one. When they are in the right place you can use small amounts of glue to stick them down.
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Repeat this entire process with the dark red fondant to create veins that go over and across the bright red ones.
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In a small bowl mix the honey, water and red food coloring.
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Use a brush to apply this to the cake. Be careful of the veins as they may move when you brush them. Simply hold the end down and apply the blood with your other hand. Keep coating the entire cake. Any leftover blood you have can be spooned onto the plate. Around the heart.
- Serve, devour and enjoy.
