Red Velvet Valentine Cakes

Love these! Can be decorated any way you wish, I used a 6" heart shaped tin, and cupcakes.

For cakes:
4oz Castor Sugar
4oz Margarine
4oz SR Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1tbsp Cocoa Powder

For Icing/Frosting:

4oz Butter
4oz Margarine
16oz Icing Sugar
1tsp Glycerine (corn syrup)

For the cakes:

Beat together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs a little at a time, adding little of the flour at same time, to prevent curdling.
Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa together, and fold into cake mixture,
Put mixture into greased tin and/cupcake papers.
Bake until risen and spring back to touch. Gas 5.

Leave larger cake in tin to cooler 20 minutes before attempting to remove and placing on wire rack to cool fully.

For Icing:
Beat margarine and butter together, then add icing sugar, beat slowly until combined, add glycerine, and beat on high level until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl and beat again, at this point you can add some flavouring, ( I added strawberry essence).

Divide icing into 3 separate bowls, half of icing into one bowl, and divide rest into other 2 bowls.
In the bowl with the largest amount add some red food colouring a little at the time until colour required, ( I prefer pastes, not liquids).
in other do the same, making 1 pink, and the other green.

When cakes are cool, give heart cake and/or cupcakes a covering of pink icing.

Put red icing in piping bag with nozzle, (I used Russian rose tube), and pipe flowers on cake.
Place green icing in piping bag, and use leaf nozzle if you have one, ( I cut a 'V" into mine) and pipe leaves in between flowers.

Enjoy!