Be My Valentine Chocolate Cupcake Recipe with Vanilla Buttercream
Recipe By: Holiday Savior
The 4U Costumes Gourmet Kitchen
Chocolate Cupcake Batter Ingredients
¾ cup of Unbleached cake flour
½ cup of Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder
½ tsp of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
¾ tsp 365 Everyday Value, Baking Powder
¼ tsp Fine Himalayan Chef Pink Salt Fine
½ cup of Non-GMO Judee's Superfine Caster Baker's Sugar
½ cup Domino Light Brown Cane Sugar
2 room temperature natural large eggs separated
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup room temperature whole buttermilk
Wilton Mini Cupcake Liners- approx 48
Frosting Ingredients
4 cups of Domino Confectioners Powdered Cane Sugar or homemade powdered sugar, divided
½ cup (1 stick) of Challenge unsalted butter at room temperature
¼ cup of Land O Lakes heavy whipping cream
1 tsp Land O Lakes of heavy whipping cream
1 Grade A Bourbon vanilla bean, the pod peeled and scraped
Wilton’s Color Right Concentrated Food Coloring-Pink
Cupcake Topper Ingredients:
Fresh Organic Heart Cut Shaped Strawberries
Before you get started on your gourmet creation please read the Holiday Savior baking tips and notes.
Baking Tips & Notes
Tip 1.If you do not already have the Wilton red mini baking cups in your cabinet, you can get them here. Many times, you can find these baking cups on sale at Walmart for pennies on the dollar after holidays like Valentine’s Day and Christmas. You can also use the green ones for Saint Patrick’s Day too.
Tip 2. Although brown eggs work perfectly with this recipe, if you can find natural green farm eggs, you are in for a treat. The green eggs give the cupcakes an airy fluffiness that really melts in your mouth. You can usually find green eggs at your local organic and natural grocery store or through CSA.
Tip 3. Domino Confectioners’ sugar blends well with whipped Challenge butter. If you make your own powder sugar, that is even better. Try Gemma Stafford’s powdered sugar recipe. Make sure to use your Non-GMO Judee's Superfine Caster Baker's Sugar and a high-quality cornstarch, such as Anthony’s Organic Cornstarch.
Tip 4. We suggest testing the batter levels with two or three cupcakes before baking a pan. You can make sure you get the perfect height without wasting half of your batter.
Tip 5. Keep in mind that Wilton’s Color Right Concentrated Food coloring goes a long way. The more you use the darker the pink will be. Add 1 drop at a time to the buttermilk until you get the shade that you are seeking. You want the pink as light as possible so that you can see the beautiful vanilla seeds in the frosting.
Tip 6. You only want to fill the liner a tad less than halfway. These are premium ingredients with beautiful rising capabilities. Too much batter will leave you with hard and chewy mushroom tops. Not enough batter will leave you with dense cupcakes.
Tip 7. Do not overmix the batter. Eye the mixing process very carefully. You want the batter just combined. How long that takes depends on the type and speed of your mixer.
Tip 8. Only use whole buttermilk in this recipe. Do not use fat free buttermilk or any other dairy substitute. Using a substitute may result in a heavier or dense unintended texture.
Tip 9. Using other butters and fats besides the Challenge Unsalted butter can cause the mini Valentine’s mini cupcakes to be chewy. Challenge Unsalted butter makes for an amazing tenderizer for the SCHARFFEN BERGER Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powderand flour.
Tip 10. Valentine’s Day chocolate mini cupcakes will only maintain their freshness for a few days. To serve at the peak of freshness, make these cupcakes the day you want to serve them. If needed, make cupcakes the night before and store properly in the refrigerator, in an airtight container. Prepare and frost the cupcakes the next day. Cupcakes should be served at room temperature.
Tip 11. Click the link to learn how to cut strawberries into valentine's hearts.
Link: How to cut strawberries into hearts.
Cake Batter Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line mini muffin pan with Wilton Mini Cupcake Liners and set aside.
2. Separate the egg whites and the yolk.
3. Whisk egg whites together until they are stiff. Set the stiff egg whites aside
4. In a large bowl mix together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until thoroughly combined.
5. In another bowl, whisk the baker’s sugar, brown sugar, the egg yolks, the melted butter, and scraped vanilla beans until you have a smooth consistency.
6. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk for a few moments.
7. Add the buttermilk and stiff egg whites.
8. Stir until just combined.
9. Using a small cupcake scooper (cookie scooper) and fill each liner halfway.
10. Place mini cupcake pan in oven for 10-12 minutes.
Frosting Directions
After cupcakes have completely cooled, prepare frosting.
1. Mix the Wilton Pink Color Right food coloring with the heavy whipping cream and set aside.
1.Using a hand or stand mixer, beat butter until it is smooth and creamy.
2. Add 2 cups of the of the powdered sugar and blend for about 5-10 seconds
3. Add the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream.
4. Blend until nice and creamy.
5. If frosting is too thick, add an additional teaspoon of heavy whipping cream.
6. Prepare frosting pipping bags with a Wilton 1M tip,
7. Frost cupcakes and top with fresh heart strawberries.
Shopping List
King Arthur unbleached cake flour
SCHARFFEN BERGER Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder
365 Everyday Value, Baking Powder
Non-GMO Judee's Superfine Caster Baker's Sugar
Domino Confectioners Powdered Cane Sugar
Wilton Color Right Performance Food Coloring
Slofoodgroup Bourbon Vanilla Beans Grade A
Brown or Green Eggs
Our gourmet kitchen is continuously testing and retesting our at home gourmet recipes. Occasionally you see will changes to our recipes as we find different ways to get the best tasting and free recipes delivered directly to you. -Holiday Savior
