Liquer Infused Heart-Shaped Chocolate Cake

Love is in the air, and it's time to woo your loved ones with sweet delicacies, chocolate taking the center stage. Its traditional to present a heart to your valentine on v-day, and though until now I'd prefer that to be store-bought, now that I've proved myself to be a cook, I know my hubby would not accept anything but a home-made one! It also gives me a chance to practise my hand at a little culinary art, so I decided I'll make an edible heart this time. So this year, my romantic mantra is this: "Every Kiss begins with Cake", and I am counting on my dearest hubby taking a trip to Jared (yeah, I'm getting influenced by all those "He went to Jared" ads:)!) after tasting this delicious heart-shaped chocolate cake, infused with bourbon liquer and layered with dark chocolate sauce and some fresh strawberry sauce! You could even garnish these with some ice cream or whipped cream. These individual dessert cakes are perfect for a romantic evening, anniversary, engagement celebrations or simply to celebrate a bond of love!

The recipe below makes 5-6 mini cakes. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cakes.

Ingredients
1 cup Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake mix
1/2 tspn baking soda
1 tspn baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tspn vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp Bourbon Liquer (or any other flavored liquer)
1 cup brown sugar
1 extra-large egg
1 tspn orange zest (optional for flavor)
Hershey's Chocolate Sauce - for garnish
Strawberry Sauce - for garnish
Fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream (optional)

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Spray a 9"x9" baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.

Sift the cake mix, baking powder and baking soda together into a bowl. Stir in the oil, milk and pure vanilla extract.

Combine the sugar and egg in a medium bowl and whisk together by hand. Slowly whisk into the flour mixture. Fold in the orange zest and the Bourbon Liquer and beat everything together to form a smooth cake batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 mins, or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let it cool completely on a wire rack. Lightly grease a heart-shaped cookie cutter and use to cut the cake into individual servings. With a toothpick, gently outline a smaller heart-shape in the center of each cake and fill it with strawberry sauce. Drizzle Hershey's chocolate syrup on the cake's outline and serve by itself, or with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

I am hoping this heart-shaped cake can bring me the diamond ring!:) fingers-crossed!! Wish you all a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Related Recipes
Raspberry Swiss Roll Cake
Pineapple Upside-down Mini Cakes
Molten Chocolate Cupcake with Raspberry Filling