Valentine's Day is around the corner and we have the best recipe for you.

With layers of vanilla cake, Earl Grey custard and raspberry jelly, this ultra-kitsch heart cake is the perfect Valentine's Day treat!

Ingredients :

The vanilla cake:

• 340g of butter


• 600g of sugar


• 2 vanilla pods seeds (scrapped)


• 6 eggs


• 185g of buttermilk


• 185g of sour cream


• 560g of flour


• 2 tsp of baking powder


• ½ tsp of salt

The raspberry jelly:

• 5 gelatine leaves


• 500g of frozen raspberries


• 50g of sugar


• 100ml of water

To decorate:

• Sugar pearls


• Maraschino cherries

The Earl Grey custard:

• 500ml of milk


• 5 Earl Grey tea bag


• 100 g of egg yolks (save the whites)


• 120g of sugar


• 50g of cornflour


• 50g of butter


• 4 gelatine leaves


• 200g of heavy whipping cream

The swiss meringue buttercream:

• 270g of egg white


• 500g of sugar


• ½ tsp of vanilla seeds


• 680g of butter


• Pink food colouring

Serves : 15

Cooks In : 2 hours and 25 min

Difficulty : Medium

Preparation Method :

The vanilla cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease and line 3 heart-shaped cake tins.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla for 6 minutes or until pale and creamy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. In a jug, combine the buttermilk and sour cream and set aside.
5. Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl and set aside.
6. Once the eggs are combined, reduce the mixer speed and add half the flour, followed by half the milk mixture. Mix until combined and add the remaining halves. Be careful not to overmix at this stage or the cake will be too dense.
7. Divide into prepared cake tins and bake for 40 minutes or until you can insert a knife and it comes out clean.

The raspberry jelly:
1. Place the gelatine in a bowl of cold water and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, heat the frozen raspberries, water and sugar. As the raspberries defrost, crush them up with a wooden spoon. Continue to cook on medium-low heat until it becomes a sauce-like consistency (approximately 10 minutes).
3. Remove from the heat and whisk in the gelatine.
4. Pour through a sieve into a plastic container roughly 15x20cm and place in the fridge to set.

The Earl Grey custard:
1. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Pour into a container, add the tea bags, cover and place in the fridge overnight to infuse. If you're short of time, allow it to infuse for at least an hour.
2. Remove the tea bags, squeezing out as much milk as possible, then pour the milk back into a saucepan and heat slowly.
3. Meanwhile, place the gelatine in a bowl of cold water and set aside.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour.
5. Pour half of the hot milk over the egg yolks, whisk quickly to combine then pour back into the saucepan. Whisk continuously until thick and bubbling. Once the first bubble appears, whisk for one minute more then remove from the heat.
6. Add the gelatine (discarding the water) and the butter. Whisk until smooth then cover and place in the fridge to cool.
7. Whilst cooling, whisk the cream until stiff peaks form.
8. Once cool, transfer into the bowl of your electric mixer and beat until smooth, add the cream and mix again until combined. Set aside.

The swiss meringue buttercream:
1. In a large bowl over a bain-marie, whisk together the sugar and egg whites. Continue to whisk as it heats to approximately 70°C or until all the sugar has dissolved.
2. Pour the hot mixture into the bowl of your electric mixer and beat on medium/high speed until it cools to room temperature.
3. Add the vanilla and colouring, then with the mixer on high speed start adding the butter one cube at a time. The buttercream will at first look curdled, but keep mixing and it will become smooth.
4. Finally use a spatula to knock out any air bubbles and smooth the mixture.
5. Place ¼ of the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large smooth tip and set the rest aside.

To assemble:
1. Place one layer of cake on the plate you want to present it on (it's difficult to move once iced). Take the piping bag, and pipe an ½ inch border of buttercream around the cake.
2. Fill the inside with the earl grey custard, smoothing it out so it's the same height as the border.
3. Take the jelly and cut it into small squares. Place a handful into the custard layer.
4. Add the next layer of cake and repeat these steps.
5. Add the third layer and using an offset spatula neatly cover the whole cake in buttercream. Place in the fridge until the buttercream has hardened, then apply another coat.
6. Fill a pipping bag fitted with a large star tip with the remaining buttercream and pipe the “star border” around the top and bottom.
7. Finally decorate with pearls and maraschino cherries.

Tips :

The earl grey custard is best when the milk is infused overnight, so if possible, start this step the day before.