Lovey-Dovey Cupcakes

Valentine's Day is here and you know what that means? Heart-shaped cupcakes!

This quick and easy recipe makes a perfect on-the-fly Valentine's Day surprise for your loved ones, big and small.

What I Used

Cake Mix:

• 1 Duncan Hines Golden Cake Mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 cup water

Icing:

• 2 cans of vanilla icing
• red food coloring

• 2 cookie pans (about 1/2 inch deep)
• 1 heart-shaped cookie cutter
• 1 mixing spoon
• 1 microwavable bowl

What I Did

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.


2. Prepare the cake mix according to the instructions on the box (or the recipe - try this vanilla cupcake recipe)


3. Grease and flour the pans. (Instead of flour, you can also use sugar or powdered sugar to lightly dust your pans.)


4. Pour the mix into your pans. If you're using a cake pan, fill it so that there's only about 1 cm or a 1/2 inch of thick layer of cake mix. You want these cupcakes to be fairly flat so they can be easily cut by your cookie cutter. If you're using a cookie pan, then fill it enough so that it doesn't overflow and there's a tiny bit of space left at the top of the pan.


5. Place cake mix in the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Since it's such a thin layer, it won't need to cook for the time listed on the box or recipe. Be sure to check it every few minutes after the 10 minute mark.


6. Once done, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.


7. When the cake is cool, it's time to prepare your icing. (You don't want to do this part too far in advance. You need your icing slightly melted.) Empty your icing into your microwave-safe bowl. Add a few drops of dye and mix until the color is uniform. (Remember that the more drops you add, the darker the color will be. To be safe, add a few drops at a time until you get the desired color.)


8. After coloring your icing, pop it into the microwave for 15 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir. You want your icing to be softened enough to pour easily onto the mix, but you don't want it to be completely liquid. If it's not a good consistency after 15 seconds, place it back in the oven for another 5 to 10 seconds - NO MORE THAN THAT!


9. Pour half the mix over each cake (be sure to leave the cake in the baking pan) and spread evenly with your mixing spoon. Remember that with icing, it's always best to have more icing - this will make sure you're not scraping the top of the cake and getting cake bits into your icing.


10. Once your cakes are iced, put them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will allow the icing to stiffen up which is necessary for cookie-cutting.


11. When your icing is stiff, it's time for cutting. This part is simple. Take your cookie cutter - starting at one corner of your pan - and cut press it into the cake so that you can cut out your shapes. Once you've got the shape of all the hearts you can get out of the cake, you can start pulling out the excess cake first - instead of trying to pull out your heart shapes. And once all the extra cake is removed, you can easily pluck up your heart-shapes.


12. Plate - or box - those babies and you're done!

Enjoy!