Heart Cut-Out Cupcakes for Valentine's Day
If you are looking for the perfect way to send sweetness this Valentine’s Day, these Chocolate Heart Cut-Out Strawberry Cupcakes for Valentine's Day are perfect for all your loved ones.
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My daughters are little violinists. Music is part of who they are, even though they are so young. They have both been playing their violins for five years and they love to share their love of music with others. They do this by playing services in our church. They share their love of music with our church music director who is also our organist, Miss Linda.
My daughters adore Miss Linda and love to bring her special gifts and treats for holidays. Miss Linda is recently widowed and retired, although she still plays every Sunday in church. She has no grandchildren of her own and my girls have adopted her so she can have them! Since Valentine's is fast approaching, we wanted to be fully prepared with treats and gifts for Miss Linda for all the time she volunteers getting my girls prepared for services.
First on the agenda was to get some cards. My daughters were looking for Valentine's Day cards and we located the perfect American Greetings® greeting cards for Miss Linda. Both of my daughters, unknowingly, selected different cards with cupcakes on the front! I was inspired right there in the aisles of Walmart to make some cupcakes as well. How could we give two cupcake cards without cupcakes?
We wandered over to the baking aisle so I could get a cake mix and frosting for the cupcakes. My daughters wanted to bake chocolate cupcakes and that was fine with me. We went to the seasonal aisle next to see what we could find for Valentine's Day. While my daughters were looking at Valentine's boxes, I spied some M&M's® Strawberry. I called my girls over and asked if we could switch the chocolate cupcakes to strawberry so I could put the M&M's® Strawberry on top. They thought that a brilliant idea, so we made a quick trip back to the baking aisle to swap out the mixes. Then back to the holiday aisle again for more Valentine's inspiration.
We found a gorgeous DOVE® Valentine's Day tin to gift to Miss Linda for Valentine's Day as well. Although, I have been fending off pleas everyday from the girls because they have decided they want to eat the DOVE® Valentine's Day tin instead of gifting it away. I think I will surprise them on Valentine's Day with their own DOVE® Valentine's Day tin!
As we were checking out, my daughter reminded me of the cupcakes we saw in the craft store the day prior. She asked me if we could make Heart Cut-Out Cupcakes for Valentine's Day instead. They are heart cut-out cupcakes with a chocolate heart in the cut-out area. I thought this a perfect idea!
Heart Cut-Out Cupcakes for Valentine's Day
How To Make Chocolate Hearts
Ingredients
1 bag of melting chocolates
1-2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
M&M's® Strawberry
Seasonal Sprinkles
Dusting Sugar
Step 1: Melt chocolates in the microwave with the coconut oil. (I worked in small batches as I only had a couple of heart shaped cookie cutters. You could use a silicon mold if you like) TIP: The coconut oil makes the chocolate a bit smoother and easier to pour into molds.
Step 2: Place cookie cutter(s) on a sheet pan. Pour melted chocolate into the cookie cutter.
Step 3: Place the M&M's® Strawberry on the melted chocolate inside the molds. Place a couple of seasonal sprinkles around the chocolate and sprinkle with the dusting sugar.
Step 4: Freeze. Set aside until ready for cupcake assembly.
Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 box strawberry cake mix
½ cup melted butter
½ cup water
4 eggs
frosting + ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Stir cake mix, eggs, butter and water until combined.
Pour into paper lined cupcake pan. Fill the cup full with the batter. (Much higher than you may think. You want the cupcakes to be high.)
Bake for 15-20 minutes in oven.
Cool before frosting. Open frosting and scoop into a bowl. Stir in powdered sugar to improve the consistency of the store bought frosting. OPTIONAL: Dye the frosting a pale pink.
Heart Cut-Out Cupcake Assembly
Step 1: When cool, cut tops of cupcakes off using a serrated knife. Set tops aside.
Step 2: Using a small heart shaped cookie cutter, cut shape out of the center of cupcake top you set aside.
Step 3: Dust cupcake tops with powdered sugar. (This can be done now or later: optional)
Step 4: Pipe a layer of frosting on the cupcake bottom. You want enough frosting so when you place the top back on, you will see frosting peeping out the middle.
Step 5: Take your pre-molded chocolate heart and gently place in the cut-out center of the top of the cupcake you have cut out a heart shape, careful to not disturb the powdered sugar. USE THE SAME COOKIE CUTTER for both the pre-made chocolate hearts and the cut out. You want your shapes to line up perfectly.
Step 6: Place the cupcake top with the chocolate heart on top of the frosted cupcake bottom and gently position.
The Heart Cut-Out Cupcakes for Valentine's Day turned out so pretty! My daughters are so excited to gift these amazing cupcakes, the DOVE® Valentine's Day tin filled with chocolate and the cupcake American Greetings® greeting cards for Valentine's Day to Miss Linda. This will surely bring her some joy for Valentine's day. Then they can all continue making music with their violins and organ.