Red Velvet Mini Heart Cakes with Pink Cream Cheese Frosting

Well it's Valentine's weekend and you know what that means...LOVE, hearts, red & pink and sugary sweets! I absolutely love red velvet cake, the moist chocolate cake with a rich red color combined with the cream cheese frosting, it can't get much better than that! My husband likes red velvet cake too, so I thought I would make this batch especially for him since I'm heading to Birmingham tomorrow to run in yet another half marathon on Valentine's Day! This should keep him happy while I am gone!


I found the cutest mini heart pan the other day so I thought that would be perfect to use and make a batch of red velvet Valentine's cakes! Look how cute these mini cakes look!

To add an extra special touch I tinted the cream cheese icing pink.

And then I added some XOXOXOXOXO sprinkles on top!

Then I decided to have some fun pouring the sprinkles out into a pile and taking a photo!

Still excited about my XOXOXOXO sprinkles...

Can you tell I really love how these mini cakes turned out...now I've stacked 2 on top of each other to create a double decker red velvet and cream cheese sandwich!

I had some left over icing....so I decided to practice my cursive handwriting! By the way, this plate is from Target, isn't it cute! They always have the neatest seasonal serving pieces, and I'm a sucker for decorative plates!

Red Velvet Cupcakes (Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising, sifted)

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa and salt.



• With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.



• Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.



• Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.



• To finish decorate with cream cheese icing. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Cream Cheese Frosting (Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth. Frosting can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; before using bring to room temperature, and beat until smooth.

XOXO