Do you remember the wedding scene in Love Actually? The one where the friend organises a surprise rendition of ‘All you need is love‘? Here’s a little snippet to jog your memory.

My friend Sarah commented once when we were much much younger that she’d love that at her wedding. Of course I stashed her comment away in a special place in my brain. A few years later, the day came to pull it out of storage. As maid of honor, I was given the extra special honor of making a speech. I’m not usually a nervous speaker. Despite my shy nature and not to sound full of myself, I think I give a decent speech but on this occasion I was freaking out a little.

Why? Because I had secretly planned a surprise rendition of ‘All you need is love’ complete with trumpet player and I, with my not-so-good voice was to sing the first line at the very end of my speech. I gave a list of a few key things you need in marriage and ended with all you need is love (sung in my best voice into a microphone in front of 100 people).

Following that, the trumpet player jumped up and played his part then a group of girlfriends sang another line, trumpet player, then the boys and by then the whole wedding was in on it and I was so excited that I’d pulled it off and Sarah was smiling.

I think that song has a point. It needn’t be about love between two people, but having a love for something and being passionate about it is good for the soul. I’m very lucky to have a lot of people to love but I do have another love and I’m sure you all know what it is. Yes, that love is food.

It’s even better when your food loves you back and that’s exactly what my raspberry loaf cake filled with love does. It gives a little bit of love with every slice. It may look rather tedious to make but I assure you it’s not really but it does take a little more time because it has to be baked twice.

This really is just a starting point for adding a surprise to any sort of loaf. You could make a potato-stuffed meatloaf or chocolate cake filled banana bread. Whatever you can cook and cut with a cookie cutter and then bake in a loaf you can add a little love to.

If you do choose to recreate my raspberry loaf cake you’re in for a dense, lightly-sweetened cake that’s just lovely as is or even better warmed a little with a smear (or giant knob) of butter and a cup of green tea. I gifted mine to my grandma and she said it stayed fresh for days. That might be because of it’s rather high proportion of butter but who cares about these things on Valentine’s Day right?

So what about you? What’s your love?

Raspberry loaf cake filled with love

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

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Ingredients

• 250g self-raising flour
• 250g butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 250g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 100g raspberries

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan-forced and grease and line two loaf tins.
2. Place all the ingredients (except the raspberries) in the food processor and process until smooth.
3. Remove half the batter to a bowl and cover and set aside.
4. Add the raspberries to the food processor and mix again until smooth.
5. Scrape the batter into one of the cake tins and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
6. Leave it to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.
7. When it is cool enough to handle, use a cookie cutter (you might need to help with a sharp, pointed knife) to cut out hear shapes.
8. Lay the hearts in two logs in the middle of the second cake tin.
9. Spread the remaining batter over the top, shaking to make sure there are no bubbles.
10. Bake for another 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
11. Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 

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