Heart Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a medium-sized heart-shaped cake pan.

FOR THE CAKE:
Beat together the eggs and sugar until pale and the mixture forms ribbons, about 3-4 minutes. Sift the flour into the batter in 3 batches, folding in after each addition. Add the butter, vanilla, and food coloring with the last batch. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

FOR THE ICING:
Sift the sugar into a large bowl. Gradually stir in the combined egg white and raspberry extract until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the icing for decoration and color the rest with 1 drop of the red food coloring. Color the reserved icing with the remaining drop of food coloring so that it is darker. Spread a thin layer of the paler icing evenly over the cake and allow it to set. Fill a pastry (piping) bag with the reserved icing and pipe small decorative dots and a fine rim around the top edge of the cake. Decorate with rose petals if desired and serve.