Nothing is more satisfying than making and showing a beautifully decorated cake and, with so many options, here are a couple to choose from. They might seem a bit girly at first but it can be for anyone, these ideas can be altered to accommodate any baker.

Heart Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 1 store-bought Oreo pie crust
• piping bag or turkey baster
• toothpicks

Filling:

• 20 oz. cream cheese, softened
• ¾ cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 ½ Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Fruit Puree:

• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. cornstarch
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1 ½ cup frozen raspberries or strawberries

Instructions:

Filling-

1. Process cream cheese and sugar in a processor until completely mixed.
2. Add all other ingredients into processor also.
3. Place filling in store bought crust.

Fruit Puree-

1. Whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.
2. Stir in cold water, strawberries or raspberries.
3. Over medium heat, whisk until puree boils.
4. Whisking constantly until puree thickens, let boil for 5 minutes.
5. Turn off heat and force puree through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds.
6. Set aside to cool.
7. Place cool puree in a zip lock plastic bag and cut a small hole.

Decorating-

1. Pipe small circles in a swirl pattern over cheesecake.
2. Take a toothpick, and beginning with the center circle, run the toothpick through the center of each heart.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake cheesecake for about 45 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and refrigerate for about 6 hours, or until the cheesecake is fully set.

Ombré Rose Cake

Ingredients: Ombré cake

• 3 boxes of French Vanilla cake mix
• 9 eggs
• 3 cups of water
• 1 1/2 cups melted butter
• 1 vanilla bean scrapped
• 3 tsp vanilla
• Pink food coloring

Ingredients: Buttercream frosting

• 2 cups room temperature butter
• 3-6 cups of icing sugar (depending how thick you like your icing to be)
• 4 tsp Madagascar vanilla
• 2 tsp Mexican vanilla
• 1 vanilla bean scrapped
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp butter flavoring
• 1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

1. Follow the instructions on the box to make the batter and making sure there aren’t any lumps.
2. Making three separate batters start using a little food coloring on each one making the next one darker than the last.
3. After baking according to the box set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Butter cream frosting Ingredients:

1. Whip butter for 5 minutes until it becomes fluffy.
2. Now add in your icing sugar 1 cup at a time.
3. Continue to whip and add until you get a consistency you like.
4. Add your vanillas, vanilla beans, salt and butter flavoring. Whip again.
5. Slowly add your cream last. If your icing is too runny, add more icing sugar. If it’s too thick, add more cream.

Once you’re done with the instructions, start layering your cake. Put your white cake on your serving plate and coat the top with a layer of icing. Continue with your light pink, medium pink and dark pink cake layers of the cake. Once they are all stacked, coat the outside of the cake with a smooth layer of buttercream. Finally, you can take a piping bag or a zip lock and start decorating your cake with buttercream roses. You will start with the lightest color on bottom and making it darker on your way up.