Heart-Shaped Champagne Cake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
7 None eggs
1 None vanilla bean, seeds removed
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup whole milk
10 sheets gelatin or 3 tbsp powdered gelatin
3/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup champagne or sparkling wine
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp apricot jam
3.5 oz marzipan
None None pink and green food coloring

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350\u00b0F. Grease a heart-shaped cake pan. Cream butter and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth and pale. Whisk 3 eggs into batter, 1 by 1. Season with a pinch of salt and vanilla bean seeds. Sift together flour, cornstarch, cocoa and baking powder then add to batter, alternating with milk. Transfer to prepared pan and bake for 50 mins. Let cool for 20 mins then remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Bloom gelatin in cold water. Beat 4 eggs and 1 cup sugar until fluffy. Add orange juice and champagne. Gently heat gelatin with a little of orange juice and champagne mixture and melt gelatin then add to main mixture. Chill until beginning to set. Whip cream with vanilla extract until stiff then fold into champagne mixture. Spread over cake base and chill until set.
Once set, heat apricot jam and strain. Let cool slightly then glaze cake carefully using a pastry brush.
To decorate the cake, divide marzipan in 1/2. Color 1 section pink and the other green. Thinly roll out marzipan, separately, then cut and shape into petals and leaves and roll in granulated sugar. Decorate cake then serve.