Red Velvet Heart Cake ❤🍰

Ingredients

• 12 eggs (use vegan eggs by Follow Your Heart as a substitute)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter (or vegetable oil/margarine/Crisco)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (I use Foster Clarks)
• 1 tbsp red food color (Foster Clarks once again)
• 4 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder (yet once again… Foster Clarks)
• 200 gm softened butter (or margarine/Crisco)
• 1 packet icing sugar
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract (by Foster Clarks)
• Bow and ribbons made entirely out of Marshmallow Fondant
• (see the recipe)

Steps

1. Separate the eggs if you're using them. Separate the yolks from the whites and keep them on 2 separate bowls. If you're using vegan eggs, follow the instructions on the packet and then, strain the aquafaba (chickpea liquid) from the can of chickpeas if these are available where you live. Mix all the wet ingredients first… egg yolks (or vegan eggs), sugar, vegetable oil (or butter/ sunflower margarine/Crisco vegetable shortening) until they all turn into this pale fluffy mixture.
2. Add the vanilla extract and red food color (liquid-based from Foster Clarks or a few drops of gel-based from Wilton) and continue to whisk until the batter's completely colored. Whisk the egg whites or aquafaba to soft peaks and fold it in the red batter using a rubber spatula.
3. At this point, add your dry ingredients bit by bit at a time. Sift your flour and baking powder into sections and fold these in with a rubber spatula. If you add the flour and baking powder all at once, you'll have a chance of forming lumps on your batter. Here's when mom stepped in and lent me her helping hand, love her and appreciate her for what she does for me. Love your mom and appreciate her for what she does for you; not only on Valentine's Day but… every single day.
4. Grease both your round and square pans with more butter, vegetable oil or margarine or Crisco. Pour the batters on the prepared pans and bake them for a good 5 minutes on high heat. Once they're done, keep them covered rather than open, this is a microwave cake afterall and if you leave it out in the open, it'll start to harden up. Keep them covered to lock all the moisture. In the mean time, start making your buttercream. If you're baking these in the electric oven, leave them to cool on a rack
5. This American buttercream is the easiest, quickest frosting you'll ever make if you're in a hurry or can't think of a better frosting recipe. To start, whip up the butter or sunflower margarine or Crisco vegetable shortening.
6. Then start sifting the icing sugar bit by bit into sections, not all together at once. If you add all the icing sugar at once without adding them bit by bit into sections, you'll have chances of getting sugary lumps on your frosting. Right after all the icing sugar's incorporated into the frosting, add your vanilla extract and give it a final whip.
7. Cut, layer, shape and position your cakes on the cake board. Place a dab of frosting on the center of your board and then, apply the frosting both inside and out using a palette knife.
8. This is exactly how your Valentine's red velvet heart cake is expected to look like before coating with buttercream.
9. And this is what it should look like after coating with the buttercream and topping it off with the marshmallow fondant ribbons and bow that I made yesterday. Cut a piece to show you guys. Impress your family, friends and loved ones with this cake if you're making it like the way I did. I promise you, it'll be… one of the most beautiful cakes you'll ever make. Can't wait to make this again next Valentine's! ❤🍰