Sprinkled Heart Little Cakes

The other day, I was in the Target bargain section near the front of the store and I saw all sorts of cute accessories for Valentine's Day themed baking.  They have sprinkles, heart shaped measuring cups, red and pink spatulas, and lo and behold, heart shaped mini-cake silicone baking sheet.  Yes, please!  I tried searching Target's website so I can show you exactly what I used.  I think that these cuties would be better with a very small heart cake.  The one I used was about this size, but it would be more bite sized with this pan. 

To make these mini heart cakes, you need a heart shaped cake pan, non-pariel sprinkles (I bought mine at Target), and chocolate melts.

I used a vanilla  cake recipe (you can obviously use whatever flavor you would like) for my Little Cakes.  I should have purchased more than one of the sheets as each one only makes two little hearts, so it took a while to make them.  I baked them for about as long as a cupcake, perhaps slightly longer.  Be sure to use some sort of cooking spray or cake release so that the hearts pop out when done.  I personally like Wilton's Cake Release, which I put in cake pans and molds using a pastry brush.  

So cute! I cut the top off of the one on the left since it rose unevenly.  I was really impressed with how they came out!  It's the first shaped cake mold that I have (well, other than the Big Top cupcake mold).

The next step involves melting chocolate.  I used red Wilton chocolate melts as that's what I had around, but obviously any color would be fine.  I melted my chocolate candy melts in the microwave and poured it over the cake.  It was very messy.  I used a cooling rack with a plate under it to really be sure to cover the visible parts of the cake.  A wooden spoon is helpful for making sure the chocolate coats the cake evenly.

Allow the chocolate to harden a slightly before moving the chocolate covered cake via spatula to a bowl partially filled with the sprinkles.

Spoon the reserved sprinkles over the top and sides of the cake.  You have to get a little creative with wiggling the cake around to be sure that it's completely covered.  Again, wait a little bit to allow the chocolate to further harden on the cake so that it is easier to remove the cake from the bowl to completely dry on another plate.  

The cakes come out looking very pretty.  The only downside was that after eating one, my mouth, teeth, and tongue were pink from the sprinkles, which is part of the reason why it might be better to use a smaller heart.  Nonetheless, they are a great little treat for your Valentine ;-)