Featured recipe from Marilu's table * Sweetheart cake

For Valentine's Day, you may want something a little different, so here's a strawberry cake that includes chocolate. Don't make this for two people, though. Make sure you have other friends or family to share it with.

It takes a little time to prepare this cake, but it's delicious (and you know exactly what's in it). If you're celebrating on Monday, you may want to make the parts over the weekend, wrap and cover them carefully, refrigerate, and then assemble them on Monday. You'll need about an hour of time to bring the frosting back to room temperature before you frost the cake.

If you don't have a double boiler to melt the chocolate, use a small pot set inside a larger pot. Put about 2″ of water in the larger pot, and bring to an active simmer. Make sure no water gets in the smaller pot, or the chocolate won't melt properly.

Vegans can substitute the egg whites with Ener-G Egg Replacer.

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Sweetheart Cake

Yellow * Serves 8-10

Strawberry puree:

2-1/4 cups fresh, ripe strawberries cut into bite size pieces

3 Tablespoons unprocessed sugar cane crystals

Place ingredients in bowl and let stand for 1/2 hour to draw out the natural juices. Take 1 and 1/4 cup and puree in a food processor. You will use some of this for the cake, the frosting, and the rest is used for a filling.

Cake:

3/4 cup soy margarine

2-1/4 cups unbleached flour

2 Tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup soy milk

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups unprocessed sugar cane crystals

4 egg whites (or equivalent Ener-G Egg Replacer, prepared as directed)

3/4 cup strawberry puree

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9 and 1/2-inch round cake pans. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer, cream soy margarine, sugar cane crystals, and egg whites. Add soymilk, oil, and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Add strawberry puree mix and beat an additional 2 minutes. Pour into cake pans and bake 20 minutes, then test with toothpick. Let cool before frosting.

Frosting:

3/4 cup unprocessed sugar cane crystals

1/4 cup unbleached flour

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 cup soy cream

1 cup soy margarine at room temperature

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips, melted and cooled

1/4 cup strawberry puree

In a small saucepan, melt chocolate in a double boiler. Set aside to cool. In a medium saucepan, stir sugar cane, flour and cocoa. Cook and add soy cream slowly until smooth. Let boil, thicken, and then reduce heat. Cook an additional few minutes stirring constantly. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat margarine until creamy. Add the cooled soy milk mixture, then add vanilla, melted chocolate and strawberry puree. Mix well until slightly stiff. You may need to place in the refrigerator for a few minutes to stiffen before you frost.

Filling:

Mix the remaining bite-size strawberry pieces with the remaining puree. This goes between the frosting layers in the middle of the cake. To do this, first frost the top of the bottom layer with a thin layer of frosting. Then put the strawberry filling on top. Next, frost the bottom of the top layer with a thin layer of frosting, and put it (frosting side down) on the filling- and frosting-topped bottom layer. Finally, frost the top and sides of the assembled cake.

Garnish:

Cut a large strawberry in half to make two hearts (carve a little if you need to). Put them on top of the cake in the center as a garnish.