With the official celebration of "Love" just weeks away everyone needs a cupid in their corner. I have two tasty treats that will sweep anyone off their feet. Warning: berries and chocolate may incite true love forever. Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!
FRESH STRAWBERRY 3D CUPCAKES
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup fresh crushed Driscoll’s strawberries, unsweetened
Also needed,
1 Wilton Dimensions Mini heart shaped pan
1-12 cup cupcake pan
Or, if you are a busy mom, like me, and pressed for time use two boxes of Pillsbury’s Moist Supreme Cake Mix Strawberry and add 3/4 cup crushed fresh Driscoll’s strawberries to the mix.
Directions:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hr
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2 FOR CAKE: Sift together: flour, salt, and baking powder.
3 In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
4 Beat for a total of 3 minutes, scrapping the sides of the bowl.
5 Then add flour mixture to creamed mixture, alternating with fresh Driscoll’s strawberries.
6 Beat for two minutes.
7 Pour batter into two Wilton Dimensions 6 heart pan and one 12-cup cupcake pan greased and floured.
8 Bake in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, or until cake tests done.
9 Turn out on to wire cooling racks to cool.
10 When cool assemble heart cupcakes with round cupcakes
ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
Needed:
Cupcakes
Betty Crocker Easy Flow Decorating Icing Red
Confectioner’s sugar
Cocktail picks
Driscoll's Raspberries
Confectioners sugar sprinkler
Assembly
Cut off the top of the round cupcakes. Then slice a slight angle to the remaining cake.
Use a quarter size dollop of red icing on round cupcake top to attach heart cupcake (see photo)
Sprinkle heavily with confectioner’s sugar
Spear center with three 4 3/4” Paddle Bamboo Picks, paddle side up. Attach three Driscoll's raspberries. (Or any cocktail pick with a topper that will allow the Driscoll's raspberries to fit securely on top.)
Here is my second "sweet heart" recipe:
Use Wilton's 10 inch heart shaped cake pan to make the perfect dessert for your sweet heart. We suggest a chocolate pudding cake as it is a bit more dense to hold the berries, but any cake mix recipe should work.
Chocolate Pudding cake
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use wilton heart pan to bake. In bowl, stir together flower, white sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Mix in milk oil vanilla with a fork until smooth.Spread batter evenly into heart pan. This batter should be thick. Sprinkle with brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Pour boiling water over batter.Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes.Remove cake from pan and invert so your bottom is now the top. Once cooled ice with pink or red icing.Use Driscoll's berries as the topping. We used about 28 raspberries to make the inside of the heart. You need about 40 blueberries to make the outline of the raspberries. (Optional) to create this side look, You'll need 16 strawberries and 16 more blueberries for the side decor. We skewered the strawberries with wooden skewers and inserted them into the iced cake. The cake is beautiful with just the berry top also.
Here are a few more ways to send your love...
Tips:1. Spread the love: Valentine's Day is not just for couples. Surprise someone you know with kind words or anonymously pay for a small treat.
2.Made with Love: take time to make your loved one something home made this year. Involve the kids and make a fun treat everyone can enjoy.
3. Even Cupid cuts costs: Start planning your Valentine's day gifts now so you don't waste money on last minute gifts.
4. Love showers: (sounds fun right) my communication skills and connection with friends are my favorite gifts. Transform Valentine's Day into an opportunity to shower the important people in your life with gratitude and happiness. (And, the first thing that comes to your mind at Love showers, works too:)
5. Love Notes: send someone a hand written note. It can be a favorite quote or something silly. Here is one of my favorites riddles.
Read And That And
Up You I You
And Will Love Love
Down See You Me
For more tips and fun Valentine’s Day ideas click on www.rivaevents.com