Description
This stunning Cheetah Print Heart Cake features a moist vanilla cake base colored with gel food coloring to create a distinctive cheetah print pattern both inside and on the frosting. It can include a surprise heart-shaped patterned center made from a sheet cake, perfectly encased within heart-shaped cake layers, all covered in creamy vanilla buttercream tinted to mimic cheetah tones. It’s ideal for celebrations and cake lovers looking for a visually impressive and delicious dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
Vanilla Cake Batter
- 2 ¾ cups (345 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups (300 ml) whole milk, room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml) sour cream, room temperature
Coloring the Batter for Cheetah Print
- Gel food coloring: golden yellow
- Gel food coloring: brown
- Gel food coloring: black
- 3 small bowls for color mixing
- 3–4 tbsp extra milk if needed to adjust consistency
Heart-Shaped Print (Surprise Center)
- 1 batch of brown/black patterned sheet cake (from a portion of the vanilla batter)
- Heart-shaped cookie cutter, small–medium size
Buttercream Frosting
- 1 ½ cups (340 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 5–6 cups (600–720 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream or whole milk, plus extra as needed
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
Decorating the Outside Cheetah Pattern
- Reserved plain buttercream (off-white or ivory)
- Gel food coloring: golden yellow, caramel or brown, and black
- Piping bags (at least 3)
- Small round piping tips: size 1–3 for black, 3–5 for brown, optional 8–10 for filling yellow spots
- Offset spatula and bench scraper
- Heart-shaped cake pans (two 8-inch heart pans or one deep 9-inch heart pan; or carve from a round cake)
Instructions
- Prepare the pans and oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour your heart-shaped cake pans, or spray with baking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper cut to fit the heart shape. If making a surprise inside heart pattern, also line a 9 × 13 inch rectangular pan with parchment for a thin sheet cake layer.
- Make the vanilla cake batter: Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat softened butter until creamy, add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Whisk milk and sour cream, then alternate adding dry ingredients and milk mixture to butter mixture starting and ending with dry ingredients. Mix just until no dry streaks remain.
- Divide and color batter for cheetah spots: Reserve 2 cups plain batter. Divide portions into three bowls and tint golden yellow, medium brown, and black using gel food coloring. Adjust consistency with milk if needed.
- Option A – Create cheetah-print sheet cake for surprise heart centers: Pour half the plain batter into lined 9 × 13 inch pan. Pipe brown oval blobs and spots randomly, then pipe black outlines or semi-circles around most brown spots plus some solid black spots. Spoon thin golden yellow batter layer on top. Bake 12–16 minutes until springy and toothpick clean. Cool and cut out heart shapes with cookie cutter.
- Bake the main heart cake layers: For no surprise heart, marble vanilla batter with spots of yellow, brown, and black batter in heart pans in layers about two-thirds full. For surprise heart center, layer plain batter in bottom, stand cut-out heart patterned sheet cake upright in a row, cover with more batter and smooth top.
- Bake heart cakes: Bake two 8-inch heart pans 25–32 minutes or one deep 9-inch heart pan 40–50 minutes at 350°F (175°C), checking after 35 minutes. Cake is done when top springs back and toothpick is clean. Cool 10–15 minutes, then invert onto wire rack and cool completely.
- Level and chill the cake layers: Level tops if domed, mark orientation of surprise hearts if present. Chill layers in fridge 20–30 minutes to firm.
- Make vanilla buttercream frosting: Beat softened butter until creamy. Add sifted powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla gradually alternating with cream or milk until a smooth, spreadable consistency is reached. Beat until very light and fluffy.
- Tint buttercream for outer cheetah pattern: Reserve 1 cup white or ivory buttercream. Tint bulk of frosting golden tan using golden yellow and brown. Tint ½ cup medium brown and ¼ cup black separately and fill piping bags with small round tips.
- Assemble and crumb coat the heart cake: Place first layer on serving board pegs with buttercream. Spread a ¼ inch layer of reserved buttercream over top. Optionally add jam or ganache with border. Stack remaining layers aligning orientation marks. Spread thin crumb coat over entire cake and chill 20–30 minutes.
- Apply base coat of cheetah-colored buttercream: Cover cake with golden tan buttercream evenly using offset spatula and bench scraper. Chill 15–20 minutes to set.
- Pipe the cheetah print pattern on outside: Pipe irregular brown ovals and spots randomly, then outline with black broken circles or C-shapes. Add small solid black spots between. Optionally fill spots with golden tan or yellow buttercream for depth. Keep pattern dense centrally or spread evenly.
- Accent the heart shape: Clean edges of heart curve with small spatula. Optionally pipe a slim border around top edge with black or brown frosting.
- Chill, slice, and serve: Chill cake 30–45 minutes so icing sets. Use warm sharp knife wiped between slices to cut. Slice perpendicular to surprise heart line to reveal pattern if included.
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients for best mixing and texture.
- Do not overmix batter to keep cakes tender and light.
- Gel food coloring is preferred to avoid altering batter consistency.
- Chilling shaped cake layers before frosting makes handling easier.
- If omitting surprise hearts, simply marble colored batters in heart pans.
- Pipe cheetah pattern freestyle for natural authentic look; avoid perfect shapes.
- Keep leftover buttercream refrigerated and bring to room temperature before use.
- Use parchment for easy cake removal and neat edges.
