Catholic Recipe: Heart Cakes

St. Valentine's Day is a joyful feast, and there's no better way to observe it than by exchanging sweet, heart-shaped confections. Here is one delicious recipe for heart cakes to suit the occasion.

DIRECTIONS

Melt semisweet chocolate pieces and shortening over hot (not boiling) water. Pour into wax paper-lined jelly roll pan, 15 x 10 x 3/4 inches; spread evenly. Chill until chocolate is hardened. Cut chocolate into 12 hearts with heart-shaped cookie cutter; cut cake layers into 6 hearts. Put cake on half of the chocolate hearts. Whip cream until stiff with sugar, peppermint flavoring, and red food coloring; spread on top of cakes. Top with remaining chocolate hearts. (If desired, chocolate left over after cutting out hearts may be broken into pieces and folded into the whipped cream mixture.) Makes 6 servings.