No Heart-Shaped Pan? No Problem! - main blog image featuring a heart-shaped cake on a marble background.

How to Make a Heart-Shaped Cake Without a Heart Pan

There are many options for sweet treats on Valentine's Day, but nothing is more fun than a heart-shaped cake. So, we’re here to show you an easy way to make a heart-shaped cake – no special baking pan required!

There are many options for sweet treats on Valentine’s Day, but nothing is more fun than a heart-shaped cake. Sounds perfect, right? Except…you just remembered you don’t have a heart-shaped pan in your kitchen. No need to worry! We’re here to show you an easy way to make a heart-shaped cake – no special baking pan required!

So, how do you make a heart-shaped cake without a heart pan?

It’s actually pretty simple. You can make any cake flavor you would like, but we chose to use our Strawberry Cheesecake Cake Roll to create our holiday-inspired dessert. Instead of baking in the pans, we used the outline to cut our unrolled cake into the appropriate shapes.

If you’re going the more traditional route and baking your cake from scratch, start by making your batter exactly as you usually would. Then, pout half into an 8” round pan and half into an 8” square pan. Bake the cake following the recipe’s instructions. Once they have cooled, the shaping can begin!

Items Needed

  • 8” round pan
  • 8” square pan
  • Cutting board
  • Serrated knife

Step 1: Level and Cut the Cakes

Start by leveling off the tops of both your cakes using your serrated knife. This creates an even, flat surface which makes it much easier to assemble and decorate.

Image of a square Strawberry Cheesecake cake and a circle one on parchment paper.

Then, cut your round cake in half to create two semi-circles.

Image of a square Strawberry Cheesecake cake and a circle one on parchment paper.

Step 2: Make the Heart Shape

Arrange the square cake with one corner pointing toward you and place one-half of the round cake against the top left side of the square cake. Next, place the other half of the round cake against the top right side of the square cake, leveled sides down. Voila! You now have a heart-shaped cake that’s ready to be decorated.

Image of a heart-shaped cake made from a square cake and two halves of a circle cake.

Step 3: Frost and Decorate

Now, it’s time to frost the cake which will cover up the fact that the cake isn’t actually one piece. Be sure to choose a frosting that compliments your cake flavor. Then, add any decorations your heart desires.

Image of a person using a wooden spoon to add frosting on top of a heart-shaped cake. The cake is on parchment paper which is on a cooling rack.

We finished the look of our heart-shaped cake with some pretty sprinkles. The simple gold sugar sprinkles complemented the pink of the cake and off-white color of the frosting to create a cohesive look that just screamed, “Valentine’s Day!”

Heart-shaped cake on a cooling rack next to a wooden spoon. The cake is decorated with white frosting and gold sugar sprinkles.

Hopefully, this tutorial keeps you from needing to find space for another novelty cake pan while also helping you create the perfect holiday treat for your loved ones. Also, we’d love to see how you decorated your dessert, so make sure to tag us on Instagram. We can’t wait to see what you create!

Sweetening Life’s Special Moments!
Did you give this a try? We want to see! Tag @dutch.apron on Instagram or @dutchapron on Facebook.

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Homemade Whipped Topping Recipe

Ingredients
  • 1 c. heavy whipping cream
  • 3 tbsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Whip heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.