Pretzel Heart Cake
The perfect salty + sweet mix - make a super easy Pretzel Heart Cake, perfect for an anniversary or Valentine's Day!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 752kcal
Equipment
- 1 large piping bag + star tip (linked is a set that contains both)
Ingredients
Pink Marbled Cake layers
- 2 white cake mixes
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks, melted & cooled - use instead of oil)
- 2 cups buttermilk (room temperature - use instead of water)
- 8 egg whites (no yolks-you can use egg whites from a carton to avoid wasting the yolks)
- 2 tablespoons clear vanilla extract
- 1-2 drops pink gel food coloring
- 2-3 drops red liquid food coloring (save and add later)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (one package; softened)
- 1 cup unsalted butter (two sticks, softened)
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4-5 drops Red gel food coloring
Decorations
- 15-20 White Chocolate-covered heart pretzels (I found these at a grocery store, but you can absolutely make your own with these heart-shaped pretzels and white chocolate!)
- 1-2 Tablespoons Pink Sugar Pearl sprinkles
Instructions
Pink Marbled Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch round pans with baker's floured spray (or grease and line with parchment rounds).
- Make sure melted butter is cooled enough it won't cook the eggs whites! Mix together all wet ingredients (butter, buttermilk, egg whites, vanilla, and pink food color) in a large bowl with a mixer or wire whisk. Blend in cake mixes for 30 seconds until moistened, then beat for 2 minutes until well combined.
- Divide evenly between prepared cake pans. (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part). Add a drop or two of red food coloring to each pan, and marble in with a knife or offset spatula.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans. Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired. (This is a great time to make your frosting!)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt if needed and beat until well combined.
- Note – I saved about ¼ cup of frosting out to marble to frosting on top of the cake – to the rest of the frosting, add 3-4 large drops of red gel food color! I used Americolor Super Red.
- Add in red gel color until you reach desired shade of red. (You can let the frosting sit for a few hours to let the color intensify if you’d like a deeper color with less food color!)
Assembly
- Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler.
- Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting. (I added some chopped white chocolate pretzels between the cake layers, but this is optional.)
- Add your next cake layer on top. Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer. I usually do this with my large offset spatula.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part.
- Press white chocolate-covered pretzels into the frosting around the outside of the cake.
- Transfer the rest of your red frosting – along with your white frosting if you kept some white – into your large piping bag, fitted with a large star tip. Pipe 8 large swirls spaced evenly around the top of the cake, and a smaller swirl in between each one. Press a pretzel heart into each large swirl.
- Sprinkle some pink sugar pearls over the top of the cake – if you’d like, you can add some to the cake sides as well! I smeared a bit of Crisco on my finger to pick the sugar pearls up to press them into the frosting. And you’re done! Cut in and enjoy!
Video
Notes
(Please note nutrition information is an estimate and may not be exactly accurate.)
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 752kcal | Carbohydrates: 98g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 38g
Mentioned in post -
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
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