Not your typical box of chocolates! This cake makes a unique gift and is easier to make than it looks. Just follow my simple steps...

Step 1: Stuff You Need

rectange cake board
circular cake boards
spatula
cake mix or your favorite scratch recipe (see my Old fashioned sour cream fudge recipe below)
heart shaped cake pan
cake release
rolling pin
saran wrap
red or pink pearl dust
clean (new) make- up brush
pliers
dowel
scissors
sharp knife
black marker
roller cutter (optional)
red gel paste food coloring (if using white fondant)
fondant ( you can use white and color or purchase red fondant)
candy cups
chocolates (at least 24 )
food wrap and tin foil to cover cake board (optional)
your favorite buttercream icing (see my favorite below)
gumtex or tylose or use gumpaste instead

Old Fashioned Sour cream fudge cake

Ingredients:

Amount	Ingredient
2 ¼ cups	cake and pastry flour
2 tsp.	Baking soda
½ cup	butter, softened
2 ¼ cups	firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp	salt
3	eggs
1 1/2 tsp	vanilla
1 cup	boiling water
3 ounces	bakers unsweetened chocolate (melted0
1 cup	sour cream (cooled)

Directions:

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Cream butter. If you use salted butter (skip the salt). Gradually add brown sugar and continue beating for 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and chocolate. Alternately blend in flour mixture and sour cream, one third at a time, on low speed of electric mixer. Add boiling water; blend well. (Batter will be thin.) Pour into one greased and floured, waxed paper lined 9 ½ inches layer pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove and finish cooling on racks.

Optional Filling: Kirsh Cream with Strawberries

250 ml. Heavy cream 250 g. chopped strawberries (about 1 ½ cups)
1 to 1 ½ tbsp. Kirsh cream or any other
fruit liquer.
Beat cream until whipped. Fold in strawberries and liquer and fill cake.

Frosting: 5 squares Unsweetened Chocolate ½ cup butter, softened 1/3 cup water 3 cups icing sugar 1 egg Melt chocolate with butter and water over low heat; cool. (Mixture may appear curdled.) Add icing sugar and egg. Blend; then beat on low speed of electric mixer for 2 minutes. Chill until of spreading consistency.

Alternative Frosting (Bittersweet Chocolate Frosting): Amount is for a wedding cake therefore cut in half. 1 lb. Bittersweet chocolate, chopped ¾ cup heavy cream 3 tbsp. Unsalted butter In medium saucepan, boil water. In medium steel bowl combine approximately 2/3 of the chocolate and cream. Place bowl over saucepan and sir frequently until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in remaining chocolate until smooth. Gradually beat in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Let stand until cooled to room temperature.

Bittersweet Chocolate Whipped Cream Buttercream Icing

Ingredients

Part One 1 lb. powdered sugar (sifted) 2 1/2 cups Crisco, 4 oz melted bittersweet chocolate
Part Two 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 tsp. salt 2 TBSP. Meringue powder (add 1 additional TBSP for slight crusting) 1/2 cup BOILING water (less 2 TBSP) 1 TBSP Vanilla (or flavor of your choice)

Instructions

Part one... put crisco in bowl and gradually add powdered sugar. Beat about 5 minutes until mixture is very creamy and fluffy then add melted chocolate squares. Set this aside.
Part two... In a very clean bowl mix dry ingredients. Add BOILING water and immediately mix on high speed. Beat until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. When mixture begins to get stiff add flavoring.
NOW combine both mixtures and beat together for another 8 minutes. When finished, use a rubber spatula to down beat a little to remove some of the air bubbles. Frosting will be very light and creamy. Cover. DO NOT REFRIGERATE.
The frosting may be kept at room temperature for 3 months. Whip with a spoon each time you use it to restore fluffiness.

Step 2: Optional: Cover the Board

Optional: Line the cake board with tin foil and food safe plastic wrap (this is not necessary but makes it easier to wipe messes off the board) I usually use neutral gold or silver gift wrap I purchase at Michael's , but I had run out.

Step 3: Bake, Fill and Ice the Cake

Bake 2 heart shaped cakes. I always use a generous amount of Cake Release to prevent the cake from sticking. Level the cake, but cut the one for the top (lid) of the cake a little shorter than the bottom and place it on a circular cake board. Put it aside.

Put the bottom cake on the main rectangular cake board. Fill the bottom cake with filling of your choice (this is optional). Ice the cake, being sure to fill in the area where the cake was cut to fill, if you filled it. This doesn't have to be a thick layer covering everything, only a crumb coat. If a few crumbs mix in, it's not a big deal. Smooth as best as you can.

Repeat for the top of the cake. It is important to get the top of the cake very smooth, as you will be placing fondant on top of it.

Tip: Take a metal spatula, soak it in boiling water (I use a pot on the stove) and wipe the water off on a clean tea towel, then smooth the icing with the dry hot spatula over the surface of the cake. Then remove excess icing off spatula. Keep repeating until your cake is smooth

Step 4: Put the Fondant on the Base

Add about 2 Tblsp of tylose or gumtex to your fondant, roll out and cut into a long strip. Alternatively, you can use gumpaste that can be purchase at Michael's craft store or any cake decorating store. But you will still have to color it.

Make sure the strip is wide enough to go about a 3/4 of an inch above the cake (measure with chocolate on top) and let the strip dry for about 15 minutes. It needs to be dry enough so it won't sag or droop.

Carefully place the strip (you will likely need 2) around the cake, and close the seam at the back with a little water.

Step 5: Add Rope Border to Cake

If you have a sugarcraft gun, then use the rope attachment to make the rope border.

If you do not, then roll out 3 narrow strips with the flat of your hands and twist the pieces together. Don't worry if it doesn't go all the way around. You can do it in pieces and use a little water to 'glue' it together - it won't be noticeable.

Then 'glue' the strips on the cake with a little water. Do a little strip of rope for the seam at the back. And you will also do this for the top of the cake when the time comes.

Step 6: Fill 'the Box' With Chocolates

Fill the surface of the cake with chocolates in candy cups (you can buy at Michaels;) . You will need at least a 24 chocolates.

Step 7: Cut the Cake Board for the Top of the Cake

Outline the circular cakeboard and cut to fit under the top cake. You will need this to support the cake.

Step 8: Cover the Top of the Cake

Roll out colored fondant (1/8" thick ) and cover the top of the cake. I usually just guage how much I need by looking at it. But you can tell approximately how much you'll need be measuring the cake across and adding a couple inches all around. You can cut off the excess and reuse. If you have no idea how to smooth fondant on a cake, google it - there are lots of tutorials. Some prefer a smoother, but I use my hands (wedding ring off!)
Place on cake, smooth and trim.

Tip #1: Stick the top of the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes while you roll out your fondant - this makes it easier to cover with fondant. Don't leave it longer than 10 minutes!

Tip#2: To transfer the fondant, I roll it up a little with my rolling pin and gently unroll over the cake.

Step 9: Make the Bow

Roll out the remaining fondant with gumtex or tylose (or gumpaste) as thinly as possible (as least half as thin as you rolled it to cover the cake)

Cut two lengths of the fondant (or gumpaste) the same length and width. These will form the loops. I generally cut mine around 7.5 cm/3 inches wide and about 15 cm/6 inches long. The length of these loops will determine the size of you bow, so If you want a bow about 10cms/4 inches long the loops will need to be a little more than double that length when you cut them. Its a little bit of trial and error, but the length can be adjusted after they' ve been cut quite easily.

Turn one loop piece over and pinch the ends together, then do the same with the other end, and pinch the two ends together. Put some saran wrap in the bow pieces to set it in place.

Roll out the tails of the bow in the same manner as the loops but make them a little thinner, maybe ¾ of the width of the loop pieces. Cut the ends at a 45 degree angle. Pinch them as you did the loop piece.

Make the centre knot with another piece of fondant, rolled and marked in the same manner as the other pieces, but only make it about ½ the length of the tail pieces. The knot is just a short strip (maybe 1' by 1") and it is just wrapped around all the other scrunched up ends so that there arent any rough edges showing. It doesnt need to go all the way around the back of the bow, just tuck the edges under so they dont show.

"Glue" the pieces together with a little water on a paint brush

Cut a long, narrow strip and put directly on the cake

Dry brush on the red or pink pearl dust (I use a never used new make-up brush).

Then place the bow on the cake on top of the narrow strip.

Step 10: Cut Dowel

Take a wooden dowel (I use the wooden ones you can buy in art section at Michaels and boil it) , cut to size with pliers and sharpen with pencil sharpener. It should stick out about 1- 1 1/2 " above chocolates

Step 11: Lean 'the Lid' on the Box

Carefully place the top of the cake onto the sharpened dowel. You may need to poke a little hole in it from behind first (through the back and into the cake board.) You want it resting just above the rim of the bottom cake, so it doesn't put weight on the rim and wreck it.
Serve and enjoy!