Photos by Marie Aromin

Ingredients

1 to 2 boxes of white cake mixture
Red food coloring dye
Cocoa Powder
Vanilla extract
Butter cream frosting
Strawberries

First, start off with one box of white cake mixture by following the directions on the box. This can be found in any supermarket in the baking aisle. If you are a good baker, you can just make the white cakes from scratch too. But this just saves time if you use the boxes.

After the white cake mixture is made, add a ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract to this mixture. Then add about 1 or 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder. (This amount really depends on you, but do not over do it either)

After the mixture is complete, now is the time to add the red food coloring. It takes a lot of coloring to make it a real blood red color, so you may need a big bottle, (not just those tiny ones that come in the packages). So, add the color, a little bit at a time (5-10 drops) until you are satisfied with the mixture.

Now, bake the cake according to what the white cake box/boxes say (remember to preheat the oven too!).  With two boxes, you can make a double layer cake. Other wise, you can also make cupcakes, or fun foil shapes (those are sold usually in the baking aisle). The picture shown on this page was made with a foil shaped heart.

And now here comes the fun: Decorating!! Be creative!!

For the one I did for this particular dessert, I used two heart shaped pieces of cake. I trimmed them with a bread cutting knife (any knife will do though) until the two pieces were flat and even. I then put a thin layer of frosting on top of one, and then placed the other heart shape on top of the frosting. From there I spread the butter cream frosting all around. Then I added a strawberry on top, for piazzas! And that’s how easy it was! You can do the same with cupcakes too. Just take two, trim them down, and do it in the same fashion. The same thing applies to a double layer cake.

But do not just take my word for it, make them however you want! Whatever shape, size, or layer (why not 3 layers?). You can also just add some food coloring to the frosting, and have colored cakes; inside and out.

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and I hope you will try it out yourself! And please, tell me if you do, for I’d love to hear your feedback!