I haven’t made cupcakes in a while. There was this time when I though about making the most rich and fancy cupcake and tried numerous recipes (like the caramel banana cupcakes). Suddenly they became such a hype here in Austria about a year ago and it made them less interesting to me. Do you know that feeling? You like something very much and then everybody has it and you’re like: meh, maybe not. That’s me with cupcakes.

However I still like them when they challenge me or have a twist. Like these Valentine’s Day cupcakes I made. The recipe is slightly adapted from Joy of Baking (the best Red Velvet cupcake recipe I found so far).

Valentine-heart-cupcake-surprise

All you need is:

– 125 g flour
– 1/2 tsp baking powder
– a pinch salt
– 60 g butter (room temperature)
– 150 g sugar
– 1 egg
– 1 Tbsp Vanilla sugar
– 120 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk
–  1/2 tsp baking cacao powder
– 1/4 tsp red food coloring

For the frosting:
– 100 g cream cheese
– 100 ml cream
– 2 Tbsp sugar
– a splash of lemon

Preheat the oven to 175 ° C. Mix the butter with the sugar, Vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl until smooth and soft. Add the egg and combine well. Put one Tbsp of the buttermilk aside and mix the rest with the butter-egg-sugar mixture. Sieve the flour with the baking powder into the bowl and combine slowly.

Now put 4 Tbsp of the mixture into another bowl. Add the 1 Tbsp butter milk with the cacao powder and food color and mix it with the smaller batch of batter. Take a small baking tin, grease the inside and add the red batter. Bake in the oven for 10 mins. Now take a small heart shaped cookie cutter and cut out hearts.

Valentines-day-heart-cookie-cutter

Take a muffin baking tin and line it with muffin cups and add one Tbsp of the batter into them. Take the red hearts and put them inside. The hearts should stand on their tip.

Valentines-cupcake-heart-cut-out

Divide the rest of the batter evenly but make sure that the hearts are still in the middle. Put them into the oven and bake them for around 20 mins. While they cool down, make the frosting.

Beat the cream with 1 Tbsp of sugar and do the same with the cream cheese. Add the splash of lemon and combine both. Before piping the frosting on top of the cupcakes, make sure you know which way the hearts are facing.

When you serve the cupcakes, make sure to cut them in the middle right where the heart is.

Valentines-day-heart-cupcake-setting

Isn’t that a lovely surprise?

Valentines-day-cupcake-detail

Now. Carry on!