Copycat Little Debbie Heart Cakes

With this easy copycat recipe, you can re-create classic heart-shaped Little Debbie Valentine Cakes at home!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cake, Valentine's Day

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 1 5

Servings

Calories 376kcal

Author Stacey aka the Soccer Mom

Cost $15

To Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F and line two 9x13 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, flour, sugar, salt, eggs, milk, vegetable oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
Divide the batter into two equal portions and pour onto your prepared baking sheets, spreading into a thin, even layer. If using a half sheet pan, you'll pour all the batter onto the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350°F, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.
Once cool, use a hear-shaped cookie cutter to cut out mini heart cakes from both baking sheets.

Beat softened butter in a mixing bowl until creamy.
Add the marshmallow creme, powdered sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and heavy cream, mixing until light and fluffy.

Spread frosting on top of one heart cake and place another heart cake on top to form a sandwich. Repeat until all the heart-shaped cakes are used.
Melt the white chocolate candy melts according to package instructions. Scoop a couple Tablespoons of the plain white chocolate into a piping bag or a small bowl. Stir pink food coloring into the larger bowl of melted white chocolate until it is a smooth shade of light pink.
Dip each heart cake into the melted pink chocolate, coating it completely. Place on a wire rack with a baking sheet underneath to dry.
Take the white melting chocolate that you set aside and pipe or drizzle on top of your heart cakes.

Nutrition information is provided as an estimate only.

Prep Tips:

- Yield - Depending on the size of cookie cutter used, this recipe will make between 10-15 Valentine cakes.
- Food Coloring - You can use either pink or red food coloring. If using red, start with one drop and work your way up from there. You can always add more food coloring, but it's harder to fix if you add too much.
- Cookie Cutter - To make these cakes a similar size to the original, you'll want to use a heart-shaped cookie cutter that is about 2 inches in size. It doesn't have to be exact, anything in the range of 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches should work.
- Pan Size - You don't want to bake these in a regular cake pan, but rather a baking sheet, because these cakes are going to be thin. You can use TWO 9x13 inch baking sheets or ONE 18x13 inch half sheet pan.