Valentine Ombre Cake

The Tala heart-shape cake tins are the perfect size to make a Valentines cake for two to share. Serve this impossibly romantic pink hombre cake on one plate with two forks. And serve, with love!

In spite of their intricate shape, there is no need to grease or line these Tala Performance cake tins as the cake will come away effortlessly from the sides of the tins.

Equipment

Heart shaped tin
Mixing bowl
Spatula

Ingredients 

For the cake:

2 free-range eggs

100g caster sugar

100g soft margarine

100g self-raising flour

Bright pink powered food colouring

For the icing:

200g icing sugar

150g softened butter

1 tbs pink sprinkles (non-pareils)

For the decoration:

Very small amount of ready-to-roll icing coloured pale pink

1  Valentine candle

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celcius (302 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Cream the margarine and sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Mix in the eggs, followed by the flour.
4. Set out four small cereal bowls and divide the mixture evenly among them.
5. Set one bowl aside and measure one small amount of pink food colouring into one bowl, (I used the tip of a wooden coffee stirrer to measure out 1 'unit' of colouring) 2 amounts of food colouring into the next bowl and three amounts of food colouring into the last bowl.
6. Thoroughly mix each bowl so that the mixture is coloured evenly. 
7. Put all of one bowl of mixture into one of the heart shaped cake tins, levelling the mixture with a knife, and all of another bowl into the other cake tin.
8. Bake for at least 15 minutes, until the sponges are risen and spring back when pressed gently in the centre.
9. Allow the cakes to cool for five minutes in their tins and turn them out to cool completely on a wire rack.
10. When the tins are cool, refill with them the mixture from the remaining two bowls and bake as before.
11. While the cakes are baking and cooling, you can get started on the icing.
12. Cream the icing sugar and softened butter, soften with a very quick blast in the microwave if you need to.
13. Measure out the sprinkles and mix into the buttercream until thoroughly dispersed.
14. When the cakes are cool, use a bread knife to cut off any domes or uneven bits, so that the tops of the cakes are level. 
15. Place a greaseproof paper circle onto a round flat surface (I used the bottom of a cake tin) and spread a little buttercream onto it.
    
    
    
    
16. Position the un-coloured sponge heart, flat side down, on top of the buttercream, then spread a layer of butter cream on top.
17. Place the lightest coloured sponge on top, then follow up with more buttercream.
18. Repeat the process with all of the sponges taking care that they follow the order of lightest sponge to deepest pink sponge. 
19. Spread more buttercream onto the walls of the cake with a round-ended palette knife.
20. Smooth with a cake scraper. A cake turntable will make easy work of this, if you have one. 
21. Chill for at least two hours, or pop the cake into the freezer if you are in a hurry.
22. Prepare a work space for your cake before you remove it from the fridge.
23. Turn it upside down, peel off the greaseproof paper, and place sponge side down on a cake stand.
24. Thinly roll out the ready-to-roll icing on a surface dusted with icing sugar and cut out several little hearts with the plunger cutter. 
25. Arrange the hearts into a little flower pattern on top of the cake and place a heart candle in the centre.