I wanted to make a colorful filling for this cake, and went with a strawberry + rose combo. You know, for v day. You can get rose extract at Sur la Table! It *claims* to be out of stock online, but I found it in my store. It’s also a little pricey, but you seriously don’t use much of it so I think it’ll last a long time.
To be 100% honest, I’m not a huge fan of floral flavors. I like lavender (which you can also get in extract form at Sur la Table) a little better, but to me, rose kiiiiinda just tastes like perfume. But you know, maybe you’re into that. Or maybe if you hate Valentine’s Day and prefer to spend it grumpy and mopey, that might be something you don’t mind subjecting yourself too.
Idk, I’m really not a Valentine’s person. I just like cake.
And voila. Blank Space Cake. Don’t forget to stand on some horses, stab some paintings, and set your ex’s clothes on fire and throw them out the window.
Blank Space Cake
Ingredients
best ever vanilla cake
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups milk
strawberry rose filling
- 2 cups fresh chopped strawberries
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp rose extract
rose buttercream
- 1 1/4 cup butter 2 1/2 sticks, softened
- 1/2 tsp rose extract
- 1 tbsp milk
- 3 cups powdered sugar
for the fake blood
- 2 tubes red decorating gel such as Betty Crock, found at Publix
- Dab of black food coloring
Instructions
for the cake
- Preheat oven to 350*F and spray to heart cake pans with cooking spray.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter on medium speed with an electric mixer. Add sugar and vanilla; mix until fluffy. With mixer running, add eggs one at a time, allowing eggs to mix in after each one.
- Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk. Mix until mostly combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk; mix until completely incorporated.
- Divide batter between the prepared pans and bake for 28-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake layer comes out clean.
- Let cakes cool in pans 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
for the filling
- Process strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth. Strain puree through a sieve to remove seeds if desired. Combine strawberry puree and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat and let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, or until mixture resembles jelly, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat, stir in extract, and let cool completely before using.
for the frosting
- Cream butter on medium speed until smooth. Add rose extract and milk. Add half of powdered sugar, mix on low speed until mostly combined, and then medium speed until completely combined. Repeat with remaining powdered sugar. Mix for 1 additional minute.
assembly
- Place one cake layer on a cake stand or cake plate. Pipe a border of frosting around the top edge of the cake. Spoon filling over cake, but inside the border. Smooth with a spoon if necessary. Place second cake layer on top and fill in the gap between the two cakes. (At this point, I put my cake in the fridge for 30 minutes. This helps me get smoother frosting, but that's just me!)
- Spread remaining frosting over the whole cake. Use a star tip to pipe designs around the bottom and top edges.
- Stir together the red decorating gel and black food coloring (to make it a darker color; the gel is super bright red). Slide your knife into the cake and pipe the gel around it. Use a toothpick to spread it out and give it more of a shape.
Notes
Recipe from bethcakes. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without permission. If you would like to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.
I’m obsessed with this. It’s SO cute and creative. I always love all your cakes!! They’re so fun – this one is too perfect for a GALentine’s celebration 🙂
People who aren’t Taylor fans may not get it – but they need to get some Taylor Swift in their lives! LOL! The cake is so like the video and I’m sure tasted GREAT!
This is AMAZING! Girl, you are SO clever. I just can’t even! Love love love love it!
Beautiful cake! If I were to do this in three 8-inch round pans, what would you suggest?
Hi Erin! I’m not sure that this cake would work in three 8-inch round pans. I think it might work in two 8-inch pans or even two 9-inch pans, but I think the layers might turn out a little thin in three pans. I would bake them about 20-25 mins, keeping an eye on them until they look done and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake layers comes out clean. I hope this helps!
I know this is an older recipe, but do you know if this uses 6-inch or 8-inch pans?
Hi! They’re 8-inch heart pans!
it looks amazing! Your’re so talented! Is it possible to not adding vanilla extract?