Heart Pound Cake: I Love Baking for Others

In my office, we are pretty big on bringing in food to share, primarily baked goods. Given that it was Valentine's Day, I thought I'd bring something in to share the love.

I'm always up for a Pinterest challenge. Seriously who are these creative people coming up with all of these crazy ideas?

Ingredients:
2 boxes of pound cake mix
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened and divided
4 eggs, divided
1 1/3 c milk, divided
red food coloring
cooking spray or oil to coat the pan
Glaze: (optional)
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
2 TBS milk (give or take)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350.
Coat a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
 Prepare your first pound cake: combine 1 box of cake mix, 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter, 2 eggs, and 2/3 cup milk in a large bowl. Whisk together with an electric mixer as directed on the box.
Mix in food coloring until you reach your desired shade.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 8-10 minutes less than instructed on box (about 50 minutes.) Let cool 5 minutes in pan, remove and cool on wire rack for 1 hour.

Prepare your second box of pound cake mix the same as the first, except omit the food coloring. Coat a 9×5 loaf pan with cooking spray and pour about 1/4 in of batter to cover the bottom. Align your heart cut-outs down the center, keeping them tightly together. Pour the remaining batter over the sides and top making sure the heart cut-outs are covered.

Bake according to the directions on the box. About 1 hour. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
To make the glaze (optional): Mix powdered sugar in a bowl, slowly add milk until you reach a desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake.

I'll be putting this baking endeavor in the Success column.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Enjoy!