Secret Lover Cake

Ingredients
Four, 4-inch or 8-inch cake rounds (whatever color you prefer)
One, 9x13 cake (whatever color you prefer for the inside heart of the cake)
6 cups of buttercream icing

1. Crumble the 9x13 cake and mix in 1 cup of frosting.
2. Level each of the cake rounds with a long knife or cake level
3. Spread 1/2 to 1 cup of frosting on two layers and put the remaining two layers on top of each stack.
4. In the center of both cake stacks, trace a smaller circle for a guide of where to cut.
5. Carve out a V-shape in the first cake stack.
6. Carve out a small, pointy island in the second cake stack. (Use
a spoon to help carve out a more rounded edge for the tops of
the hearts.)
7. Fill the two cake stacks with the crumbled mixture of cake and frosting.
8. Put the cake stacks in the freezer for 15 minutes.
9. Frost the top edge of the V-shaped cake stack to act as “glue” to hold the two stacks together.
10. Flip the top cake stack over (it’s the one with the small, pointy island carved inside) and place it on top of the other one.
11. Apply a crumb coat of frosting over the whole cake.
12. Put the cake in the fridge for at least an hour to firm.
13. Remove the cake from the fridge and frost & decorate with remaining icing as you wish.
14. When serving, cut into the cake and remove at least 1/3 of it to see the heart that’s formed inside!


* Disclaimer: The original tutorial for this cake comes from the blog I AM BAKER. Her instructions and photos are probably way more helpful than mine. You can find her tutorial here. This cake is not easy to make. It took me several attempts to get a good heart shape inside. If you'd like a fool-proof way of making one, I suggest you purchase this pan from Wilton. I didn't even know such a thing existed until AFTER I'd struggled through this one. 

Caramel Cream Kiss

Ingredients
3 cans buttermilk biscuits
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 butter, melted
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Open biscuit containers and place biscuits on countertop
2. Put cream cheese inside a ziplock bag. Cut off the tip and squeeze a teaspoon of cream cheese onto each biscuit.
3. Pull edges of biscuits together, forming a pocket of cream cheese inside each one.
4. Place biscuits inside lightly greased Kiss/Lip pan
5. Pour melted butter over biscuits.
6. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture over biscuits.
7. Pour heavy cream over biscuits and sugar mixture.
9. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and flip onto a serving platter.
Enjoy warm & gooey!

Makin' Whoopie Pies

Chocolate Whoopie Cakes
1-2/3 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
4 tbsp. Crisco
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Line two baking sheets with parchement paper
3. Put flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
4. In mixing bowl, beat together butter, Crisco, and brown sugar on low speed until just combined.
5. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth - about 3 minutes.
6. Add the egg and vanilla and mix for 2 more minutes.
7. Add half of the dry ingredients and half the milk and beat on low. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining dry mixture and milk. Mix until combined.
8. Put half of whoopie pie dough in a pastry bag and pipe into circles or other shaped on parchment paper at least 2 inches apart.
9. Bake for 10 minutes.
10. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before taking them off the parchment paper.

Cream Cheese Filling
4 ounces cream cheese
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter on medium speed.
2. Add the sugar and beat on low speed until combined.
3. Add the vanilla nd increase the speed to medium.
4. Beat until creamy and smooth, about 4 minutes.
5. Put half the filling in a pastry bag and pipe a dollup onto one whoopie pie cake.
6. Sandwich the cakes together and roll the edges in decorative sprinkles if you wish.

Love Makes the Whirled-Go-'Round Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
(lemon, raspberry, etc.)

Cream sugars with butter. Beat in eggs and oil. Combine dry ingredients. Gradually add to wet mixture. Stir in flavorings. Split dough into parts for food coloring. Mix each color separately. 

For striped cookies: Line a bread pan with plastic wrap. Layer dough
in pan however you wish the colors to appear.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours. Remove frozen dough from pan & plastic wrap and cut into bars and then slices. Line baking pans with parchment paper. Put the slices on the parchment paper and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes.

For swirly cookies:
On a clean work surface, layer dough however you wish. Roll the dough, mixing the colors into a swirl. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put in the freezer for at least 2 hours. Remove frozen dough from plastic wrap and cut slices from the tube shape. Put slices on the baking sheet and cut out shapes as you wish. Bake at 350°
for 12 minutes.

Sweetie Pies

Ingredients & Supplies
1 Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust or homemade pie crust
1 can of cherry pie filling
Cinnamon & sugar mixture
Mini cupcake pan
3-inch and 2.5-inch round cookie cutters
Mini cookie cutter shapes

1. Let pie crust sit out for 15 minutes before cutting.
2. Cut 3-inch and 2.5-inch circles out of pie crusts.
3. Put 3” circles of dough in the bottom of a mini cupcake pan
4. Push the edges flat to make a rim of dough.
5. Fill with cherry pie filling. (Approx. 3 or 4 cherries each.)
6. Cut out inner shapes from 2.5-inch circles of dough.
7. Place 2.5-inch circles of dough on top and push the edges together with bottom circles of dough.
8. Take your 2.5-inch cutter and press the two layers together, cutting the outer dough off.
9. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
10. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.

Gimmie S'more Love

Ingredients & Supplies
Jumbo-sized marshmallows
Graham cracker squares
Hershey’s candybars
1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter

1. Cut center of marshmallows with heart-shaped cookie cutter
2. Melt Hershey candybars in a ziplock bag in the microwave - 30 seconds at a time until completely melted. (Two candybars will fill one s’more heart)
3. Place marshmallows on graham cracker squares
4. Pour melted chocolate inside marshmallow heart shapes until full to the top.
5. Let chocolate dry and harden on a countertop or in fridge.