Valentine Cake

This cake should be baked in a heart-shaped baking pan. If you don't have one, bake it in a springform (a baking pan with a removable rim), but double the recipe. Once the cake has cooled, simply cut it into a heart shape and proceed with the icing.

1/3 cup (80 ml) butter
1/3 (80 ml) Sucanat or Rapadura sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup (125 ml) hazelnuts or filberts, finely ground
2 Tbsp (30 ml) cocoa
1 1/2 tsp (7 ml) baking powder
2 egg whites, beaten until tips form

Icing:
1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream
2 Tbsp (30 ml) honey
1 Tbsp (15 ml) agar agar
1 cup (250 ml) frozen cranberries
bitter-sweet or semi-sweet chocolate shavings, for garnish

Mix butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg yolks one at a time. Continue to mix until smooth. Combine nuts with cocoa and baking powder and fold into mixture. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into mixture. Line bottom of heart-shaped baking pan with baking paper and pour dough into pan. Bake in preheated oven at 200°C (400°F) for 15 to 20 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and slide it out of pan by loosening edges with a knife. Peel off baking paper and cool cake on rack.

To make icing:

Using a small saucepan dissolve agar agar in two tablespoons (30 ml) of water. Let sit for five minutes, bring mixture to a rapid boil, then remove from stove and let cool slightly. Blend frozen cranberries and stir into the agar agar mixture, making sure that no lumps form.

Beat whipping cream until stiff. Keep three tablespoons (45 ml) for decoration and fold the remainder into cranberry mixture. Place cake on cake plate. Using wax paper fold a three-inch-high (seven and a half cm) rim around cake. You may have to triple paper to get a stable rim. Staple or clip ends together, making sure the rim is tight around cake. Pour whipping cream mixture on top of cake and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight. Decorate cake with reserved whipping cream and chocolate shavings. Remove rim and serve.

Source: alive #220, February 2001