Valentine's Day Cupcakes

The night before Valentine's Day I made some delicious cupcakes for my daughter's class party. I'm ashamed to admit that I've never made cupcakes from scratch before - always from a box! But it was easy to make this recipe, and it was worth the little bit of extra effort! I didn't find it any harder than making cookies, and they tasted so much better than the box made cupcakes. I used one of Martha Stewarts many cupcake recipes :


Cupcakes Three Ways

(Makes 12)

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted better, room temp, plus more for pan
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
vanilla, rasperry or chocolate buttercream (recipe will follow)


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla, and mix until combined. On low speed, beat half the flour mixture, followed by milk; end with remaning flour mixture. Mix until incorporated (do not overmix)

3. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 22 to 24 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost with your choice of buttercream.



Chocolate Cupcakes:
Reduce flour to 1 1/4 cups, and add 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Makes 12.


Black and White Cupcakes:
Prepare both vanilla and chocolate batters; fill muffin cups with 3 tbsp of each, side by side. Makes 24.



Vanilla Frosting

(Makes 1 cup)

4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch salt


In a small bowl, beat together butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy. Use immediately, or cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate up to 3 days. Before using, bring to room temp.

I used some heart shaped foil baking cups that I found at the grocery store - very cute for V-day! I made 9 vanilla, 9 chocolate, and 6 black and white cupcakes. And I added some pink food coloring to the icing to make them even more V-day appropriate!