Valentines Day Cake

With a weekend of double workouts behind me, I'm ready to jump head-first into a week dedicated to decadent foods and non-stop chocolate eating. One of my New Years resolutions for 2013 was to not bake ANYTHING from a box this year. That's right, Betty move over. With a Kitchen-Aid mixer and trip to Powell's books store, I am ready to begin my year of "from scratch" baking. For my first endeavor, a Valentines Day cake is in the works. I wanted to find a recipe that was simply, rich, and contained some of the gorgeous seasonal fruits I've seen at the market. I found a recipe for a Vanilla cake with whipped cream and raspberries.

Here's the Recipe:

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Raspberry Simple Syrup for Valentine Cake (Simple Syrup= 1/2c water, 1/2c sugar, same crushed raspberry juice. Boil and let cool)
Whipped Cream for Valentine Cake
2 pints raspberries
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Cocoa powder, for dusting (optional)
Directions

Step 1: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 11 1/2-by-9 1/4-by-2 1/2-inch heart-shaped cake pan and line with parchment paper. Butter and flour the parchment paper, and set aside.

Step 2: Set the bowl of an electric mixer over, but not touching, a pot of simmering water. Combine the granulated sugar and eggs in the bowl, and whisk until mixture is warm to the touch, about 2 minutes.

Step 3:Transfer the bowl to an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, and beat on high speed until the mixture is very thick and pale, about 4 minutes. With a rubber spatula, gently transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Sift in the flour in three additions, folding gently after each. Combine the butter and the vanilla, and add in a steady stream as you fold in the third addition of flour. Fold gently, and transfer to prepared pan. Smooth the top with an offset spatula.

Step 4: Bake until the cake is springy to the touch and golden brown, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. When ready to use, turn out cake onto a cutting board or a cake turntable covered with parchment paper, and carefully peel the parchment paper off the cake.

To put it all together: Using a serrated knife, cut cake in half horizontally. Brush cut sides of cake liberally with simple syrup. Spread bottom layer to within 1/2 inch of edge with half of the whipped cream. Cover cream with an even layer of raspberries. Spread remaining whipped cream over berries. Place top of cake cut side down over cream. Dust with confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder, if desired.



I really like video tutorials, so here is Martha Stewart walk through this step-by-step: http://www.hulu.com/watch/448652?playlist_id=1474&asset_scope=all