Valentine's Day Snack Cakes (GF)

Sponge
1 cup (2 sticks) softened, unsalted butter (220g)
1 1/2 cups sugar (298g)
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 + 2 tbsp gluten free cake flour* (271g)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup milk, room temperature (121g)

*gluten free cake flour (this is more than you will need for this recipe)
174g sweet white rice flour
57g potato starch
33g tapioca starch

Preheat oven to 350˚F and prepare a cookie sheet (I use my rachael ray cookie sheets that are 11x17 inches and about 1 inch deep) with parchment and cooking spray.

Cream together soft butter and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer until mixture is somewhat fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing completely between each addition. Add vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, combine your gluten free cake flour ingredients, making sure to measure out only what you need from the mixture. Then add xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt and combine.

Alternate between adding the dry mixture and milk to your stand mixer bowl and continue to mix until it becomes a smooth batter.

Pour batter into cookie sheet and spread evenly across the entire tray with an offset spatula. Bake for 22-24 minutes.

Allow sponge to cool at least 30 minutes before continuing.

Using a cookie cutter, cut out heart shapes from the sheet of sponge and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. This will help keep them sturdy when cutting next.

Slice each little cake in half, horizontally. It helps to score the outside of the cakes before slicing all the way through. Set cakes aside and make the filling.

Filling + Crumb Coat
1 1/2 cup sugar (298g)
5 egg whites
200g softened, unsalted butter
25g marshmallow creme (fluff)

Heat egg whites and sugar over a bain marie, constantly stirring, until the sugar granules have dissolved (about 160˚F). Pour into the bowl of your stand mixer and, with the whisk attachment, whisk on medium-high until a smooth meringue is formed and the bowl has cooled.

Switch out the whisk attachment for the paddle and begin mixing on low speed. Gradually add softened butter, one tablespoon at a time. Allow each pat of butter to mix in before adding the next. Add marshmallow creme as well. Once all of the butter and marshmallow are mixed in, let the mixer continue to run for several minutes to emulsify the butter and egg. The mixture should deflate and become smooth into a light, buttery texture.

Then, fill and coat your cut out hearts.

I find it helpful to fill a pastry bag and pipe in filling and line the top and sides before smoothing it out with an offset spatula.

Spread an even amount of filling between two heart pieces. Then, cover the sides and then the top with a very, very thin coat of the same filling. This will smooth out the sides and prevent crumbs from getting into the final covering.

Set aside and prepare the coating.

Cake Coating
600g almond bark
1/4 cup shortening (40g)
dried rose petals

Chop almond bark into small pieces and place in a metal bowl. Add shortening to the bowl as well. Heat over a bain marie until it has all melted and mix together. Remove a couple tablespoons of the coating before adding pink coloring so you have some white to make the lines.

Allow the coating to cool slightly so it doesn’t burn to the touch, but do not let it cool too much or it will set (can be reheated).

Pour coating into a large pastry bag, if using. You can also dip cakes, or use a large spoon to spoon coating on. I find using a pastry bag to be easiest to get an even, smooth coat.

Arrange heart cakes onto a wire rack, like a cooling rack with parchment paper under the rack. Then, carefully pipe or pour cake coating onto each cake. Be sure to get each side evenly. I like to do one at a time and jiggle the rack a little to even out the coating and shake off the excess. The coating sets quickly, so you won’t be able to go back to cover missed spots, so do your best to look at all sides before moving on.

Draw on thin white lines with your coating reserve (use a spoon or small pastry bag) and crush some dried rose petals on before it sets.

Allow cakes to set completely before serving!

Making these little cakes has made me so happy. It’s silly, but I really have missed zebra cakes since going gluten free. I feel like I absolutely nailed it here. These seriously taste so good and are the cutest, softest little things.

The cake flour mixture makes all the difference here. DO NOT use an all purpose mix here. They’ll be dense and gritty. The combination of sweet rice flour (like mochiko), potato starch, and tapioca starch is the lightest, softest flour you’ll ever see.

The filling/crumb coat is essentially a swiss meringue buttercream. There’s about 100g less better than usual, and the marshmallow is an ingredient it doesn’t usually get. I wanted the filling to be lighter than a typical SMBC though so this was my solution. I did find that the day after making the filling (before applying to cakes), I had to mix it up again and apply some heat for it to come together right. This isn’t uncommon for SMBC, but I think with less butter it is a little less stable. I won’t blame you if you decide to go all in with regular swiss meringue, but I do think this version is manageable. You just have to be aware that you may have to spend some time mixing again if you don’t apply it right away.

I hope you all enjoy these cakes. I love them and I hope you do too.