How To: Heart Shaped Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hey Nibblers!

       I've already put out a Red Velvet Cupcake recipe a few weeks back but I found myself with some leftover cream cheese. So, what better way to use it up than to bake a batch of home made delicious cupcakes with a cute Valentine's Day theme ready for Friday. Mind you, you'll be wanting to make these babies all the time to indulge yourself.
       I have yet to invest in heart shaped mould cupcakes which could have saved me a bit of time. But, after using ceramic baking beads as a substitute, I don't think I need to. The cupcakes were a bit uneven in shape but with a few tweaks, they came out perfectly. I used the same recipe as last time so to make things easier I'll copy it over to this post. Happy Reading!

What you'll need: (To make 14 small/ medium sized cupcakes)
- 125g softened room temperature butter
- 1 cup of white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 187g of self-raising flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 Tbs. cocoa
- 125ml of buttermilk (helps aerate the cake batter/ keeps the cake moist)
- 1/2 tsp.vanilla essence
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3 tsp. red food colouring OR 1/4 tsp. of red food paste
- Ceramic baking beads or foil 

How To:
1. Pre-heat fan forced oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Line tin with patty paper
3. Sift self raising flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder and giving it a quick stir until well combined then set aside
4. Beat soft butter and sugar together until the resemble fine bread crumbs
5. Add an egg one at a time to the butter/sugar mixture and beat until well incorporated
6. Add vanilla and red food colouring, beating until the food colouring is mixed thoroughly
7. Add half of your dry ingredients and half of the buttermilk and beat on a high for 3 minutes
8. Repeat step 7 until all ingredients have been mixed
9. Divide batter equally into cupcake moulds about 1/2 -3/4 of the way up and leaving for 2 minutes so the batter can set into place for an even rise
10. Place ceramic beads or foil balls on one of the outer arc of the patty pan to form a heart shape mould

I used about 4 ceramic beads. For foil, you can do the same thing. Either small foil balls or a large foil stick

10. Pop into the oven for 18 minutes, checking with a skewer to ensure the cupcake is cooked
11. Leave cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes before decorating

Heart shaped!

Cream Cheese Frosting
- 125g of softened cream cheese
- 125g softened unsalted butter
- 200g sifted icing sugar/ mixture
- 2 Tbs. milk
- 2 tsp. lemon juice

1. Beat cream cheese and butter together until mixture turns from a yellow tone to a white- creamy tone. This will take about 5 minutes
2. Add milk and lemon juice and beat until well combined
3. Slowly add icing sugar and mix remembering to scrape the sides for an even mix
4. Beat for a further 2 minutes before decorating

I went for a heart on heart look.  

               I loved how this cream cheese frosting worked with the cupcakes. It gives a fresh citrus kick and is great on any cupcake. If you give these guys a go, leave a comment below. Until next time,

        Nibble Away,

        

              Jo.