Cream Cheese Pound Cake with a Red Velvet Heart Center

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A delicious cream cheese pound cake stuffed with red velvet cake hearts. This pound cake is coated with a creamy sugared glaze.

Red Velvet Bread

Valentine Treat NUMBER 3, So far we’ve had lovebirds in a nest and a white chocolate snack mix. And today is one of my favorites! I know, you are probably thinking I have lots of favorites. And you are completely right!

But seriously, how fun is this cake?!

This cake is far easier than it looks. It takes a bit of time to bake, but it takes seconds to assemble. Okay, maybe more than seconds, but not too bad.

Oh, and want to hear the great news? After cutting out the hearts, there is PLENTY of red velvet cake leftover. I basically loved that part of this. Here I was in my kitchen cutting out hearts, eating the crusts (the best part!) of the cake, and then eating everything else that wasn’t a part of the heart cut out.

And then I had the idea to save the red velvet cake to make cake pops with! That idea was both great and sad. Great, because HELLO, red velvet cake pops = amazing. But sad because, well, that meant I needed to stop eating shoveling the leftover cake down. But okay, save your leftover red velvet cake and any extra hearts that this cake makes because you will want to use them to make some adorable cake pops! 🙂

Red Velvet Heart Cake
Okay anyways, after the hearts are cut out of the cake, you just stick them inside of another pound cake and bake. Make sure to pack in the hearts close together and super tight or else the other pound cake will seep in and you won’t have the greatest heart center. I was able to gettwo hearts per slice of the red velvet cake and had a lot more hearts than fit in the cake. Save those hearts for heart cake pops or crumble them with the rest of the leftover cake for regular cake pops.

When the cake is finished and cooling, it’s time to whip up the glaze and before you know it, this cake is ready to wrap up and gift away. Or just eat away!

Red Velvet Heart Centered Pound Cake

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Heart Pound Cake

4.80 from 5 votes
Print Recipe

Heart Pound Cake

4.80 from 5 votes
Author Chelsea Lords

Ingredients

Heart Layer

  • 1 package (14.5 ounces) Red Velvet Cake Mix + ingredients that go with the mix

Pound Cake Layer

  • 4 ounces cream cheese softened, use full-fat
  • 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) salted butter softened
  • 1 and 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 and 1/2 cup white flour
  • 1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt depending on preference

Glaze *

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or less depending on taste preference
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter melted

Instructions

  • Prepare the red velvet cake according to package instructions. Bake in a well-greased and floured bread loaf pan.
  • Let cool for about 10 minutes and then remove from pan.
  • Cut into slices and let slices continue to cool while you prepare the next layer.
  • In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter. Using hand mixers, beat for about 2 minutes or until soft and creamy.
  • Add in the sugar and eggs and continue to beat.
  • Sift the flour and salt in another small bowl and then slowly mix in with the wet ingredients. Continue to beat and add in vanilla extract.
  • Set aside and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Using a cookie cutter, cut out the heart in the sliced red velvet cake.
  • Grease and flour the bread pan very well.
  • Pour a bit of the pound cake layer into the bottom of the pan and then stick the red velvet heart pieces from the back of the pan to the front. Pack the hearts in tightly so cake can't seep between the layers.
  • Pour the remaining pound cake on top so that all the hearts should be completely covered.
  • Cook for about 60-90 minutes or until a toothpick (stuck in only the pound cake layer) comes out clean. This time variance is so large because of altitude differences.
  • Watch the cake and make sure the top and sides aren't burning. If they seem to be browning too quickly, cover with a tin foil tent,
  • Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes and then remove onto a large plate or platter.
  • While the cake is cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar and heavy cream. Add in vanilla extract and melted butter to meet your taste preferences.
  • Spoon the glaze over the cake and let the glaze drip down the sides.
  • Using the cookie cutter as a guide for how thick your pieces should be cut, cut and serve.

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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Beautiful treat for your Valentine! Red-velvet heart centered pound cake
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49 Comments

  1. So so fun! And quite cute : ) Plus, I’m a massive red velvet fan so this sounds awesome! I definitely wouldn’t mind snacking on the leftover bites of red velvet! lol

    1. Thanks so much Melissa! You’ll have to let me know if you try it out 🙂 and a girls cooking group sounds like a total blast!

  2. Love how cute this looks Chelsea, it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day:) Anybody would be thrilled to find a red velvet heart hidden inside this cake! Love this:)

  3. Wow I tried this cake today and it turned out really nice. The only thing was that I guess I put a bit too much cake before I put the hearts layer, that’s why the hearts came quite up – they were still inside the cake though, but right under the edge.. 🙂 anyways, loved the recipe!

    1. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment Aslihan! So glad you tried it and enjoyed it! Haha, I think I did the same thing, because my hearts are pretty high up on the cake too! 🙂 Have a great day!

  4. Chelsea, this has got to be the cutest pound cake I have ever seen! Seriously gorgeous. I’m so happy you brought this red velvet greatness to the SSS party this past week! Have a great Friday night!
    Pinning and sharing on FB. (=

    1. Thank you so much Gloria! I saw it on facebook, thanks so much for sharing and for the pin 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

  5. Made this cake last night! I didn’t realize it would take so long to bake the red velvet part, so i was up later than expected and got to tired to put on the glaze. I added the glaze this morning and put it in the oven for a few minutes and it looks great! Thanks for posting!

  6. 4 stars
    Made this tonight for Canada Day! I find cakes from boxed cake mixes tend to be crumbly though. I even tried freezing the red velvet cake before cutting out the shapes but they didn’t stay together very well. I suppose it’s because the maple leaf is very detailed as opposed to a simple shape like a heart or circle etc. However, the pound cake itself was moist and very delicious and pairs with the red velvet really well!

    1. Yes they definitely can be crumbly especially with more intricate designs like a maple leaf. Hopefully the shape was still clear for you though 🙂 And so glad that you enjoyed the flavor of the cake! Thank you Tracy!

  7. I’m not understanding the directions. Sounds like I’m supposed to cook my bundt cake in the floured and greased pan! What direction should the hearts be laid? I’m confused. Lovely idea.

  8. 5 stars
    Hi Chelsea!

    We made this last night and it came out so delicious! Was wondering if we could do this with another cake mix instead of red velvet? The kids and husband aren’t too fond of red velvet. Can we possibly another cake mix and dye it a different color?

    Thanks for your great recipes!!!! This one was definitely a treat!

    1. That should work great! Just make sure you’re using the same amount since cake mixes can vary in size! 🙂

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