Red Velvet Cake

So... there's a heart inside this cake. But, I can't really prove it since, I don't have any proof shots of the inside. In the flurry of events, there was never a moment for me to take a picture of the inside of the cake. I was really tempted to cut the cake beforehand to take beautiful foodie shots for my blog check if the inside of the cake turned out decently, but giving a partially pre-cut cake didn't seem right. So, I took the cake to the party and held my breath. I can vouch though that this tutorial by IamBaker definitely works. I will hopefully have a reprise for this cake sometime in the future.
Since the inside of the cake was the main star. The outer portion of the cake was simple with a bit of piping, strawberry garnish and red-velvet crumb lining at the bottom of the cake. The red-velvet recipe was really great, having the perfect red color and cacao flavor. Also, the white cake held together really well and carved out beautifully as per the tutorial. You definitely want to plan well for this cake. I spread out the baking and assembly over two days and that made the whole ordeal a lot more manageable. I'll definitely be venturing to make this special cake again soon.

Red Velvet Cake

Adapted from SprinkleBakes
Ingredients

2.5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups of sugar
1 cup (4 sticks) softened, unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 Tb cocoa powder
1.5 Tb liquid red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tb white vinegar
Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
3.) Sift flour and salt together.
4.) Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5.) Beat in eggs one at a time.
6.) Beat in vanilla.
7.) In a small bowl, mix 1.5 Tb red food coloring with 1 Tb cocoa powder to form a paste.
8.) Add paste to sugar and butter mixture.
9.) In a small bowl/ cup, combine baking soda and white vinegar. Add this foaming mixture to the batter and beat at medium-high speed to incorporate into the batter.
10.) Divide batter into prepared cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or toothpick comes out clean.
11.) Let cakes cool

White Cake
Adapted from Sweetapolita
Yields 4 layers of 8-inch cake
Ingredients:
3.5 cups sugar
1.5 cups(3 sticks) unsalted, softened butter
5 cups cake flour
2 Tb and 2 tsp baking powder
10 large egg whites
1.5 cups milk
2.5 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 tsp salt
Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour four 8-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper
2.) Combine and stir egg whites, 1/2 cup of milk and vanilla in a bowl.
3.) In a large bowl, combine cake flour, baking powder and sugar.
4.) Add butter and 1 cup of milk to dry ingredient mixture. Mix on low speed until batter is moist and increase to medium speed and beat for 90 seconds.
5.) Add 1/3 of egg mixture, beat for 20 seconds. Repeat until all egg mixture is incorporated.
6.) Divide batter into prepared pans
7.) Bake for 25-35 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting:
Double this recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) softened, unsalted butter
6-8 cups powdered sugar
1.5 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
Directions:
1.) Beat butter, 4 cups of powdered sugar, milk and vanilla at medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes.
2.) Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition.

I followed the tutorial at the IamBaker blog

Assembly
1.) Crumble Red velvet cake using a fork to make cake crumbs. Add 1 cup of frosting to cake crumbs and mix well.
2.) After white cake has cooled down, wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer for at least 2 hours or overnight.
3.) Level each white cake and add about 1/2 cup of frosting on top of layer. Place another layer on top of the first layer of cake. Freeze for 2 hours. (At this point you will have two of a two-layer 8-inch cake.
4.) Carve out a cone shape from one of the two-layered cake (this will be the bottom of the heart).
5.) For the top half of the heart, carve out a well lining the periphery of the cake (please refer to IamBaker's tutorial as pictures make this step much clearer!).
6.) Frost the top sides of the cake layers.
7.) Fill the carved out wells with red velvet cake crumbs. Make sure to pack in the red velvet cake crumbs.
8.) Carefully combine the two halves of the cake, making sure to note which portion is the top half and bottom half.
9.) Frost the cake and decorate with remaining red-velvet crumbs if desired.