February 1: Heart Filled Cupcakes

I always like fun ideas to help make Valentines Day fun!  I found these cupcakes filled with a surprise.  How fun to bite into the cupcake and find a heart!

 Vanilla Cupcakes
{Makes 24 cupcakes}
Ingredients
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups flour
2 2/3 cups whole milk
red food coloring

Directions: 

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (F). 

Mix the butter and sugar together at medium speed for about 90 seconds, until fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so everything gets well combined.

Add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla and mix until the batter is smooth.

Alternate between the flour and milk, beating on med-high speed  until the batter is light and creamy.

Pour a little more than 2/3 of the batter (about 3 cups) into a smaller bowl. Add red food coloring until you get your desired pink or red color.

Pour the batter into a non-stick (or lightly greased) lasagna pan baking pan and bake for about 20 minutes until the edges of the cake start to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely (to speed up the process, I stuck in in the fridge).

Once the sheet cake is cool, loosen the edges away from the pan with a knife and then invert the pan onto a cutting board. Use a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out two dozen cake hearts that are small enough to fit into an average-sized cupcake pan.

Spoon two heaping tablespoons of the remaining batter into paper-lined cupcake tins, so they’re about half-full. Put one heart into each tin and press it point down into the batter. Keep all the hearts facing forward in the pan. Cover with another teaspoon of batter and bake for 24 minutes.

Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Here’s the tricky part—you’ll have to keep the cupcakes facing forward so you get the right cross-section of the heart when you cut or bite into the cupcake. After frosting, put a heart candy on them that can also face forward so you know which way to cut the cupcake in order to see the heart shape inside.

Remember, while frosting, keep track of which direction the heart in the cupcake is facing.

ENJOY!!