Cupid’s Red Velvet Cupcakes for your Valentine! (or yourself)

Ciao dears!,
        I love to bake, as you might know if you’ve read this for a while, and I love to make things that are both tasty and cute!  These cupcakes (that I made last year and never remembered to post..oops) are both of those things.  Who doesn’t love a cute little Valentine themed cupcake?  So, if you’re interested in making something sweet for your sweetie…or friends, family, whoever, here’s a fun recipe. (Adapted from here: http://www.bakerella.com/cupids-arrow-cupcakes/)

Red Velvet Cupid Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 oz. red food coloring

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line cupcake pans with cupcake papers, pink or red or whatever pretty ones you like.
• Lightly mix eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended. Set aside.
• Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together with another whisk.
• Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.
• Pour into cupcake pans and drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
• Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Makes 24 cupcakes

Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups confectioners’ sugar

• Sift sugar and set aside.
• Beat cream cheese and butter on high until creamy. Add vanilla.
• Then, add the sugar in batches. Scrape down the sides in between each addition.
• Frost the cupcakes!  I remember when I made these, something happened with my icing and I lost my icing bag or tip, so I had to frost them with a knife, which you can do, but they’ll look a bit better if you use an icing bag and a pretty swirly frosting tip.  Do whichever you prefer.  They still look pretty damn adorable!
• Next, I added cute little hearts and red sprinkles.  

For the Cupid’s Arrows:

To make these cupcakes extra cute, you just need to insert a 6-inch lollipop stick through the side of the cupcake papers.
You can use a toothpick to pierce the holes through the paper on both sides to make it easier to push the stick through.  Make sure to hold the paper as you push the stick through so it doesn’t separate from the cupcake and rip.
Then you can cut out pretty little hearts to attach to each end.  There a .pdf file you can print out here: http://www.bakerella.com/images/2012/01/arrows.pdf with red and pink little hearts.
Cut out the hearts.
Attach the smaller heart to one end with a small piece of tape (or a little glue) and cut two slits through the larger heart to allow the stick to slide through.  Remember to put the stick through the cupcakes *before* you attach the hearts!

         

                                                                                                      ♥♥Xoxo & lots of love, Gabriella