Surprise your loved one this Valentine's Day or Mother's Day with a beautiful heart-shaped cake without having to buy a special pan. Made simply by combining cakes from a square pan and a circle pan, this easy, foolproof method gets you a perfect heart shape every time. No rulers or fancy tricks required!
Whether I'm going out for Valentine's Day or staying in to enjoy a romantic dinner, I always look forward to capping it off with a special homemade dessert. Little treats like chocolate covered dates or chocolate coated almond butter crunch balls are perfect bite-sized desserts, but for special occasions I love celebrating with a homemade cake.
This heart-shaped cake can be made using any cake recipe, as it really only has to do with the pans. The typical ways people make heart cakes are by purchasing a heart-shaped pan (which only gets used once in a blue moon) or by having to measure and cut symmetrical pieces out of a round cake and then meticulously rearranging them to get it just right.
The method described below avoids both of those issues. We'll be using two types of pans you likely already have on hand, and the only cutting will be to slice the round cake in half. Easy, right?
How to Make a Heart-Shaped Cake
You will need two 8-inch pans to pull this heart cake off: an 8x8 square cake pan and an 8-inch round pan. Once the cakes are baked in each, use a serrated knife to cut the round cake in half and arrange the two halves along adjacent sides of the square cake to form a heart shape. Think of it as making a two-layer cake but in different shapes and placed side-by-side rather than stacked.
Then simply cover the entire cake in frosting to connect the pieces and hide the lines. Done!
For the photos and in the recipe card at the end of this post, I doubled the recipe from my easy vegan chocolate cake (made with sweet potatoes!) and covered it with my vegan homemade frosting colored with dye-free food coloring. Feel free to use any cake recipe you wish though!
Step by Step Instructions for Making a Heart Cake without a Heart-Shaped Cake Pan
1. Bake the cakes. Divide the batter in half and make one cake in a square pan and the other in a circle pan. Use a two-tier cake recipe or double a single-layer cake recipe for this to work.
2. Cut the circle cake in half and arrange the two semi-circles next to adjacent edges of the square cake to form a heart shape.
3. Use frosting to cover the entire cake so it becomes a single cake in the shape of a heart.
Why this Method is the Perfect Way
- No special equipment required - simply use two 8-inch cake pans
- No measuring
- No worries about cutting symmetrical pieces - just make one cut down the center of the cake!
- Simply arrange half of the round cake on two sides of the square cake
- Works with any frosted cake, whether homemade or from a cake mix
Serving Suggestions
Make sure to have enough frosting on hand to cover both the top of the cake and the side of the cake. This ensures that no one will be able to tell how the heart came together.
I usually make this cake on Valentine's Day, so I use a piping bag to add some pink frosting on top. However, a heart-shaped cake is a beautiful gesture for any special occasion celebrating a loved one! It would also be perfect to make for Mother's Day, Father's Day (with dad's favorite color for the frosting) or a wedding anniversary. Kids love heart-shaped cakes too and it can be so fun to decorate together.
More Valentine's Day Recipes for Cakes
There really is no better way to make a heart-shaped cake if you don't have a heart pan! If you try this method please tag @eatingbyelaine so I can see your beautiful cakes!
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How to Make a Heart-Shaped Cake without a Heart Pan
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Surprise your loved one this Valentine's Day or Mother's Day with a beautiful heart-shaped cake without having to buy a special pan. Made simply by combining cakes from a square pan and a circle pan, this easy, foolproof method gets you a perfect heart shape every time. No rulers or special equipment required!
Ingredients
- Any cake recipe such as my chocolate sweet potato cake (double the ingredients for this recipe)
- 1 8x8 square cake pan
- 1 8-inch round pan
- Any frosting (I doubled my vegan cream cheese frosting recipe and added a small cooked beet to color it pink. See more frosting options in the notes below).
Instructions
- Bake a cake in each pan. If the recipe is for a two-layer cake, make one layer in a square pan and the other in a circle pan. Otherwise, double the ingredients to make a cake in each pan.
- Once the cakes have fully cooled to room temperature, cut the round cake in half and arrange the two semi-circles next to adjacent edges of the square cake to form a heart shape (see photos in the post above).
- Use frosting to cover the entire cake so it becomes a single cake in the shape of a heart. Decorate with dye-free sprinkles or mini chocolate chips if desired.
Notes
The square pan must be the same size as the diameter of the circle pan for this method to work.
Cooking time below is based on the recipe I linked in the ingredients (chocolate sweet potato cake). Adjust baking time based on the recipe you are using.
If you are using a two-tier cake recipe then divide the tiers between the two pans. If you are using a single-layer cake recipe then double the recipe and put half of the batter in each pan.
More frosting options:
- chocolate - 2-ingredient vegan chocolate ganache or vegan chocolate sweet potato frosting
- vanilla - vanilla sweet potato frosting or easy vanilla frosting
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 16
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