Vintage Heart Cake

Instructions

FIRST DAY

Make vanilla sponge cake.

1. Grease a 8 inch Push-Pan, with butter. Sprinkle flour, remove the excess and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 320º F/160ºC.
3. Sift the flour together with the baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In a bowl add the egg whites together with the vanilla and milk, whisk until the mixture is homogenized.
5. In the bowl of the KA or of a stand mixer, add the butter together with the sugar. Beat with the flat beater at medium speed, until a creamy, aerated and white texture is achieved.
6. Begin to integrate the dry ingredients alternating them with the liquids.
7. Add 1/3 of the egg white mixture and beat at the lowest speed for a few seconds. Stop, lower the mixture from the sides and add 1/3 more of the dry ingredient mixture. Mix again at low speed for a few seconds.
8. Repeat the same process with the rest of the egg whites and dry ingredients mixture. Mix at low speed only until the mixture is homogenized.
9. Pour the mixture into the mould and place in the oven at medium height.
10. Bake for 70-75 minutes or until you prick it with a toothpick and it comes out clean.
11. Remove and let stand 5 minutes in the pan.
12. Unmould and leave to cool completely on a rack.
13. Once it is completely cold, wrap in plastic film and refrigerate until the next day.

Prepara blueberry & Licor 43 curd.

1. Wash the blueberries very well and check if any of them are in bad condition to remove them.
2. In a saucepan, add the blueberries and 25 g of sugar. Cook over medium-low heat until the fruit begins to soften and release its juices. Use a spoon to lightly mash the blueberries as they soften.
3. Once they have released their juices, cook over low heat for 2 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and strain through a sieve to remove the peels from the blueberries. Press well to get all the pulp and be careful not to waste any. Set aside.
5. In a medium pot, add the butter and sugar and place over medium heat. Let it melt completely, remember to stir from time to time.
6. Add the blueberry puree along with the lemon juice and Licor 43. Mix with a whisk to distribute evenly.
7. Finally, add the egg yolks along with the egg and then mix with the whisk while cooking over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until you notice that the curd begins to thicken. It will take about 10-12 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and transfer to an airtight or glass container. Cover with cling film and let cool completely at room temperature.
9. Once completely cooled, store in the refrigerator until ready to use. You can let it rest for 24 hours in the refrigerator before filling the cake if you wish.

SECOND DAY

Prepare syrup.

1. Add all ingredients in a saucepan, cook over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. The sugar should be completely dissolved.
2. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. After that time, turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
4. NOTE: If you wish, you can add a little lemon juice as part of the water.

Prepare Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

1. In a heat-resistant bowl, add the egg whites along with the sugar.
2. Place on a water-bath at medium low heat. Stirring constantly, leave until the egg whites reach 165ºF/74ºC. For it we will help ourselves of a digital thermometer.
3. Remove from the heat, pour the egg whites into the bowl of the KitchenAid or a stand mixer and whip at medium high speed until a firm and shiny meringue is obtained.
4. Once we have the firm meringue, begin to add the butter cut into squares little by little and at the same time the mixer continues whipping.
5. Once we have all the butter added, increase the speed and finish whipping.
6. Stop, scrap the cream with the help of a spatula and whip again at high speed until the ingredients are completely integrated.
7. Cover with film and s aside.
8. NOTE: If you decide to make the SMBC the day before, remember that before using it to decorate the cake, you must whip and whip it again so that it acquires the ideal consistency and texture.

Cut the cake in the shape of a heart.

1. To create a heart-shaped cake from a round cake, you will see that it is a very simple process.
2. The first thing to do is to remove the top part of the cake, which would correspond to the "domed" part. You must cut a very thin layer (just enough to remove the dome of the cake) with the help of a cake cutter.
3. Then, divide the cake into 2 equal parts, do not separate them when cutting.
4. Create a round template with baking paper, with the same diameter as the cake. Fold it in half.
5. Place this template on the cake, adjust it very well and fold it again.
6. With the help of a long knife, mark the top of the cake just along the fold of the template.
7. Turn the template 90º (or create another fold perpendicular to the first one) and mark on the cake along the same part of the template. You will get two perpendicular lines on the cake.
8. To form the peak of the heart, create an imaginary line from one of the vertices of the line to the next, with which it would form a 90º angle. That is, we are going to cut the cake on the side that would give rise to the hypotenuse of the triangle. Try to make the cut as straight and clean as possible. Do not discard these portions of sponge cake, you will use them later.
9. NOTE: If the sponge cake is very cold, it is very likely that the cut parts, when placed with the SMBC, will break. Don't worry, it's okay, there is a solution.

Fill the cake.

1. On a rotating cake stand, place a non-slip surface and, on top of it, a cake drum or similar. It is important that you mount the cake where you are going to present it.
2. Pipe a small amount of SMBC and place one of the large pieces of sponge cake.
3. To create the heart shape, place two of the cut pieces. It is important that they are from the same piece to avoid having different heights. That is, the right cut and the left cut that we removed.
4. ttach these pieces to the large piece of sponge cake. To do this, pipe a string of SMBC and attach the piece to the large sponge cake by the rounded part. Adjust each piece trying to create a nice heart shape. In case some of the pieces break, join them with SMBC.
5. Brush the surface of the cake with syrup.
6. Pipe  a double ribbon of SMBC around the edge of the heart-shaped cake.
7. Fill the inside with the blueberry curd and Licor 43. Smooth the surface of the curd with a pastry spatula.
8. Place the next cake together with the two pieces in the same way you did with the first one. Adjust well and brush the surface with the syrup.

Cover the outside of the cake with SMBC.

1. Cover the outside of the cake with a layer of SMBC, it should not be too thick. Use a pastry spatula to spread the cream over the entire surface of the cake and remove the excess with an edge smoother, if desired. This layer will help you to "pick up" possible crumbs from the cake that could come to the surface when you decorate it.
2. Refrigerate for 30 minutes for the SMBC to harden.
3. Dye 415 g of SMBC with pink food coloring. In my case I used "Strawberry Pink" powder coloring, I did not measure the quantity. I was observing the color as I whipped the cream (in the KitchenAid and with the whisk) with the coloring.
4. Cover the outside of the cake with the light pink SMBC. Make sure the surface and sides are as smooth and straight as possible. You will have some SMBC left over, but you will use it for the side decorations.
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Decorate the cake

1. Place the leftover light pink SMBC in a piping bag with a 150 Wilton nozzle.
2. Create a pattern on the sides of the cake, creating waves, so that it will be easier to decorate it when piping.
3. Decorate as I show you in the video, creating two double "sheers".
4. Dye a quantity of SMBC with "Extra Red" red food coloring. Put in a piping bag with a nozzle adapter. You will use this color with different nozzles.
5. Use Wilton 67 nozzle for the red decoration on the double "sheers".
6. Dye 160 g of SMBC with more "Strawberry Pink" powder coloring for a more intense shade.
7. Pipe into a piping bag with a 6B Wilton nozzle. Decorate the top of the cake, the edge, the way I show you in the video or another of your choice.
8. Replace the piping bag nozzle with the red cream and use the 199 Wilton nozzle. Create rosettes to attach the red decoration on the sides. Decorate each rosette with pearl sprinkles. I used two different sizes, according to the size of the rosettes.
9. Dye a small amount of SMBC with green food coloring and, using the 352 Wilton nozzle, create small leaves near the rosettes.
10. Finally, change the nozzle of the red cream and use the PME 13 nozzle. Decorate the inside edge of the heart, the top and the bottom edge of the cake base.
11. Refrigerate until ready to use.
12. NOTE: Remember that SMBC is best when left for a while at room temperature.
    

Notes

• The baking time of the cake will vary depending on the size of the mold you use.
• Refrigerate the cake overnight, so that when it is time to cut it with the lyre it does not crumble too much or it does it in smaller proportion. In addition to favoring the cutting process.
• The curd can be made with blueberries or, if you do not like them, with blackberries, strawberries or raspberries.
• The shelf life of the curd is 5-6 days. Keep this in mind to control the durability of the cake, not forgetting to take into account if you decide to let it rise a day before.
  
• I advise you to follow all the steps I detail in the process to obtain a good SMBC.
• It is important that both the egg whites and the butter are at room temperature.
• If there is SMBC left over, you can refrigerate it for 4-5 days or freeze it for 30-40 days.
• The decoration can be totally up to you, in my case I have chosen this option that I hope you like. Yes, I know, it is very kitsch.
  
• To preserve the cake you must keep it refrigerated for 3-4 days. It is important, at this point, to take into account the filling you are using, which is what will condition its shelf life.
• Ideally, before consuming it, it should be tempered for a while so that the cream is soft like the sponge cake. The time will depend on the outside temperature of your house.
  

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