Strawberry Conversation Heart Cake

To Make the Roasted Strawberries:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add the sliced strawberries to a small baking dish and toss with the sugar. Transfer them to the oven to roast for 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Remove and allow them to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the strawberries to a blender and pulse until smooth. (You should end up with about 1/2 cup puree.) We’re going to use this for the cake and the frosting.

To Make the Cake:

1. Keep the oven at 350 degrees F (as it was for roasting the strawberries). And grease an 8-inch heart cake baking pan OR two regular 8-inch cake pan. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk until combined. Set aside.
3. To the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. In a measuring cup, pour in the milk, egg whites, vanilla extract or paste and reserved 1/4 cup strawberry puree (save the rest for the frosting) and whisk until combined.
4. Turn the mixer to low speed and, alternating between the dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients (the strawberry/egg white mixture), add the them butter/sugar mixture until the batter is relatively smooth. If you want to make it a bit more pink (it’ll probably be a light pink), add a drop of food coloring.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and transfer to the oven to bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. OR, if you're using a single heart pan, add half of the batter to the pan. (We'll fill it up after we bake the first layer.)
6. *NOTE: You can buy two heart pans, but I bought one. So I baked this cake one layer at a time.
7. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then invert onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature. It’ll probably take a good hour. Repeat with the second layer, if needed.

To Make the Strawberry Frosting:

1. In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment, add the butter and powdered sugar; beat until smooth, about a minute. Pour in about 3 tablespoons of strawberry puree and heavy cream. Beat again until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. If you like add a drop of food coloring to get that conversation-heart-color-pink.

To Decorate the Cake + To Make the Writing:

1. When the cake is completely cool, add some of the frosting on top of the cake. Using an offset spatula or any spatula you own, smooth it out until it reaches the edges. Add the second layer and continue decorating the cake.
2. You’ll have leftover frosting. Add a few drops of food coloring to it until it turns red. I needed about 3 drops. This will vary depending on what type of food coloring/gel you have. Transfer to a piping bag with a small round tip on the end.
3. On a piece of parchment, write out what you want to say. Try to make them as even as possible. Transfer to the freezer to chill for 10 minutes. With a small butter knife or offset spatula, remove them from the parchment paper. Place them on the cake and serve.