Hidden Heart Valentine's Cupcakes

Saw  this accidentally  on youtube -Hidden Heart Valentine's cupcakes. LOve at first sight.... They look so beautiful and sweet.. Just couldn't wait any longer to bake and post it today.

My Recipe:


Ingredients  for the red heart:
100g butter (room temperature)
100g castor sugar
2 eggs
120g self-raising flour
30ml of milk
1/2 tsp strawberry emulco
few drops of edible food red colouring

Ingredients for the cake: (yields 24)
250g butter ( room temperature)
250g castor sugar
5 eggs
300g self-raising flour
80ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 180 degree C.

2) Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

3) Beating in eggs one at a time. Ensure each egg is well-incorporated before adding the next one.

4) Fold in half the sifted flour, add milk and strawberry emulco and then fold in the 

remaining flour without over-mixing or beating the mixture. Add colouring and mix well.

5) Pour the batter into a lightly greased  8"x8"  or 9"x9" baking tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

6) Allow to cool completely. Once the sheet cake is cool, invert the pan onto a cutting board.  Use a smaller heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out 24 cake hearts that are small enough to fit into an average-sized cupcake pan. Leave aside for later use.

7) Cream the cake ingredients with the same method as the heart cake.

8) Spoon 2 heaping tablespoon batter (from 7) into paper-lined cupcake tins, so that they are about 1/2 full. Put one heart into each tin and press it point down into the batter. Cover with another tablespoon of batter and bake for 15- 20 minutes and until cooked.  Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting.

Use a cookie cutter to cut out 24 hearts.

Leave aside for later use.  At this time prepare the cake batter.



.


Spoon 2 tbsp.of batter, and put a heart in the center.







Spoon 1 tbsp. of batter to cover the heart.

Make sure to press the heart point down properly into the batter otherwise they will turn up like mine a small hill.

 
Tricky tip how to get the right cross-session of the heart when you cut to get the full heart effect.

a) Use a marker or a pen to mark your muffin cup paper liner (external) with a visible straight line directly opposite to each other.

b) Place the heart such that it is aligned with the 2 markings.  This is so that when you cut the cupcakes into half, the cross-section of heart will show up nicely.