Vanilla Heart-Shaped Cake With Raspberry and Custard-Filling

Prep Time:

50 mins

Total Time:

4 hrs 50 mins

Servings:

10 to 12

For Valentine’s Day or a special anniversary or engagement, treat your loved ones to this gorgeous heart-shaped cake. It’s a white layer cake made with a light genoise-like batter enriched with fresh vanilla bean for extra flavor and crème fraîche for richness. The cake is sliced in half horizontally and sandwiched with vanilla pastry cream and fresh raspberries, then more vanilla pastry cream. A heart-shaped peekaboo is cut out of the top layer of the cake before it’s assembled, revealing the filling within. The cake is frosted with a Silky Crème-Fraîche Whipped Cream and coated in sweetened, shredded coconut, giving it a shimmering ethereal look. The finishing touch is artfully arranging raspberries in the heart shape for a gorgeous pink heart within a heart.

Special Equipment

To make this raspberry-and-cream-filled confection, you'll need:

10-inch heart-shaped pan: We used Wilton's 10-inch heart-shaped aluminum pan.
Long serrated knife: to cut the cake into two layers
4 1/2-to-5-inch heart cookie cutter: To cut out the heart shape
Offset spatula: To spread the icing easily.

Cake Elements

Sweetened, shredded coconut: we bake the coconut to make it crisper but don't toast it because its delicate white color complements this cake.
Cake: the white layer cake is a genoise-like creation meaning it's a European-style sponge made with eggs and butter for leavening—no baking powder is used.
No-Fuss Pastry Cream: Pastry cream can be fussy. Classic recipes call for tempering eggs but not this streamlined version skips tricky techniques but yields a rich, spreadable pastry cream that's just as versatile as the traditional.
Silky Crème-Fraîche Whipped Cream: Not your usual Swiss Meringue or 7-Minute Frosting, this cake is frosted with whipped cream mixed with a little créme fraiche for a pleasant tang that balances out the sweetness of the cake and filling. A small amount of gelatin brings double benefits: it makes the frosting silky-smooth and a dream to work with.

Directions

Preheat oven and bake coconut:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread coconut in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry but not browning, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely on sheet.
Increase oven temp, prep cake pan:

Increase oven temperature to 350°F. Butter a 10-by-2-inch heart-shaped cake pan. Line bottom with parchment, butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess.
Sift dry ingredients:

Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Whisk eggs, sugar, and vanilla:

In a heatproof bowl set over (but not in) a pot of simmering water, whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla seeds until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm. Remove from pot and beat on high speed until thick and pale, about 4 minutes.
Add dry ingredients:

Add flour mixture to egg mixture; whisk just to combine.
Add butter, then crème fraîche, milk, and vanilla:

Add butter; whisk to combine. Add crème fraîche, milk, and vanilla extract; whisk to combine.
Transfer batter to cake pan and bake:

Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top, and bake until top springs back when lightly touched and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
Cool and unmold cake:

Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes, then invert onto rack, remove parchment, and let cool completely.

Cake can be made ahead to this point, wrapped in plastic, and stored at room temperature up to 1 day.
Whip heavy cream and fold into pastry cream:

Whisk pastry cream to lighten, then whisk heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream into pastry cream.
Halve cake horizontally, cut out heart shape:

Using a serrated knife, split cake in half horizontally. Use a 4 1/2-to-5-inch heart-shaped cutter to cut out center of bottom layer.

Credit:
Johnny Miller
Spread cream mixture over uncut half, then berries:

Spread a thin layer of cream mixture (about 1 cup) over other (uncut) layer, then arrange about 2 3/4 cups berries over cream, covering entire layer.

Credit:
Johnny Miller
Spread cream mixture over, place cut-out layer on top and fill hollow with cream; refrigerate:

Dollop about 1 1/2 cups more cream mixture over berries, spreading with an offset spatula to cover. Place cut-out layer on top, bottom-side up. Fill heart-shaped hollow with remaining cream mixture. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or, covered, up to 24 hours.

Credit: Johnny Miller
Frost cake:

Frost top and sides of cake with crème-fraîche whipped cream.

Credit: Johnny Miller
Sprinkle with coconut:

Sprinkle border with coconut.

Credit: Johnny Miller
Place berries in heart-shaped hollow:

Arrange remaining 1 1/4 cups berries over cream mixture in heart-shaped hollow. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or, covered, up to 8 hours.

Credit: Johnny Miller

Make Ahead

To get ahead with this cake project you can make most of the elements ahead:

The cake can be made up to a day ahead. It should be cooled, wrapped in plastic, and stored at room temperature.
No-Fuss Pastry Cream can be made up to two days ahead.
Silky Crème-Fraîche Whipped Cream can be made a day ahead.
Assembled cake can be made up to 8 hours ahead of serving. It should be covered lightly and refrigerated.

Variations

This glorious cake is a project but it's well worth making. There are a few ways to change up the look and taste once you've tried Martha's original:

Swap the raspberries for halved strawberries—this works best with small strawberries
Skip the heart cut out and decorate the top of the cake with berries instead.