I heart loaf cakes

The Valentine Loaf Cake

Yes, it's been a long time coming but it's here now!

One of the (many) challenges of trying to run a home-based baking business is that you are your own errand boy, marketing guru, salesperson, ad executive, delivery boy and whatever else the situation demands. I do enjoy the baking frenzy. And believe it or not, I even gaze lovingly at the huge mess that is my kitchen at the end of  every order. But I had gotten so busy being an 'entrepreneur' that I completely lost sight of what started it all - my blog.

It feels good to be back and this recipe is the perfect place to start - again!

The simplicity of a loaf cake can't be beat. It is not as fussy as a cupcake. You don't need to hide it's imperfections under swirls of frosting. You don't need to dress it up with sprinkles or fondant toppers. Just bake, cool and eat. Simple! If you're feeling fancy, you can drizzle it with a glaze of your choice or hide a little surprise inside :)

I found a brilliant Lemon Loaf recipe for my experiment. This loaf is excellent as is and if you want to use it as a base recipe for trying out new flavors, it plays along beautifully!

Note: I made a full recipe, divided the batter in half, colored one half red and baked my loaves in mini pans. You will need to double the recipe if you want to make a full sized heart loaf cake.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• Red food colouring

Method

• Preheat your oven to 170 degree Celcius
• Whip butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
• Add the milk and lemon juice and blend well
• In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
• Mix in the lemon zest
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined
• Divide the batter evenly among two bowls. Cover one bowl with cling film and set aside.
• To the batter in the second bowl, add a couple of drops of red food coloring and stir thoroughly. Add a couple of drops more if you want a deeper red.
• Pour this red batter into a greased and floured loaf pan. 
• Bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Turn the pan around in the oven after about 15 minutes to ensure even baking.
• Keep an eye on the loaf - as soon as the aroma of the cake wafts through your kitchen, check for doneness with a skewer (or a toothpick). It should come out dry with a few crumbs attached.
• Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes before gently easing it out of the pan onto a wire rack. 
• Cool thoroughly. Wrap the cake in clingfilm and chill it in the refrigerator for atleast half an hour. This ensures the cake doesn't fall apart when you cut out shapes with your cookie cutter

Assembling the valentine loaf

Cut the chilled red loaf into even slices. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter punch out cake hearts from each slice.

Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of the white cake batter into the base of a greased and floured loaf pan. This is to make sure the hearts stand upright in the loaf and do not fall/tilt

Place the hearts in a row down the center of the pan. Line them up as tightly as you can.

Pour the remaining batter over these hearts making sure you cover the top and the sides. Do not let the batter overflow.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degree Celcius for about 40 minutes, turning the pan around once in-between. The cake is done when a skewer inserted into it comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then carefully transfer the cake onto a wire rack. Let it cool completely before slicing.

And when folks exclaim, "How did THAT get in there!?" , just wink and wear your proudest smile!