By Alex Taylor Around here, we LOVE to bake. Whether it’s oatmeal cookies, red velvet brownies, blueberry bars, or apple pie, we’ve got a knack for whipping up sweets and pastries like it’s nobody’s business. In light of this oven-lovin’, we wanted to bake up something special for Valentine’s Day. And, I think we found just the treat! A few weeks ago, Lauren and I were brainstorming some fun Valentine’s Day-themed goodies to blog about here on the website, and Lauren mentioned these cupcakes she saw that had hearts baked inside of them. I did a little research and found that these surprise-inside cupcakes were completely doable and relatively easy to make. I gave them a try, and I think they turned out pretty well! Here’s how I made them:
1. Prepare Vanilla Cupcake batter.
2. Divide batter
into two parts: Put half the batter into a large measuring cup with a spout (to
make pouring it into the cupcake pan easier) or a medium bowl. Place
the other half into a separate bowl and add red food coloring until you reach
your desired color. (Tip: I made both pink and red versions, but the red turned
out much better, since there was more
contrast between the two cakes. Make sure your color is
saturated and bold! Light colors will not turn out very well.)
3. Place cupcake
liners into cupcake pan.
5. Add about 2
tablespoons of the regular batter to each cupcake tin.
6. Meanwhile,
pour red batter into a nonstick baking pan so that there is a thin layer of
batter (about half an inch is good).
7. Bake red
batter for about 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through. (Tip: It’s okay to
under-bake them a bit, since they will technically be twice-baked.) Allow
the red cake to cool completely. Once cooled, use a small, heart-shaped cookie
cutter to cut out mini hearts.
8. Place hearts,
vertically and face forward, into the cupcake pan as shown in the image above.
(Tip: It’s important to keep them all facing the same direction, so that when
you finally cut them open, you can see the pretty heart hidden inside.)
9. Once all
hearts have been placed, fill the cupcake pan with regular batter until
3/4 full.
10. Bake for
approximately 20 minutes.
11. Once the
cupcakes have cooked, remove them from the muffin pan promptly and allow them
to cool for at least 15 minutes. To keep the cupcakes moist, I put a piece of
aluminum foil over them while they cooled.
12. Once they
were cooled, I frosted them with freshly made buttercream frosting and topped them off with pearly sprinkles that I found at a local craft store.
While they might seem
involved, these were great fun to make, and they were even more
fun to eat. Whip
these up for your friends or your Valentine, and be sure to tell them
that there’s a surprise awaiting them inside…
Also, if you’re
planning to cook up something special for Valentine’s Day, check out this inspiring Valentine’s Day dinner spread from
our new contributors!
Do
you have a signature Valentine’s Day treat that you like to make?
Team LC