Red Velvet Cupcakes with a Milk Chocolate Center.

I may be a little late with a valentine's treat suggestion, but who cares, you deserve a valentine's treat every day.

I am completely obsessed with red velvet cake, I love the flavor and how moist they are. For these cupcakes, I wanted to experiment with both the shape of the cupcake and my pipping technique.

To make the heart-shaped cupcakes I used tinfoil, rolled up into a ball, to make an indent in the top. I also used tinfoil to make sure the sides narrowed into a point, but this isn't necessary. Keep in mind they won't look fully like the intended shape until iced, before that point they might look a little rough.

For decoration, I used a small circular piping tip to make the little hearts. My only suggestion for this is to take it slow, it can be fiddly so don't rush it. Oh and also use a toothpick to reshape the hearts if needed. I also, as you can see, used lots of sprinkles because they are easy and who doesn't love sprinkles?

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Red Velvet Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Center Recipe.

Prep Time: 15 min. Cook Time: 19 min. Decoration Time: 20 min. Total Time: 55 min.

Makes 12 Cupcakes.

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Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (141 g) all-purpose flour

• 1 ½ tablespoons (8 g) cocoa powder

• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

• ⅛ teaspoon baking soda

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted butter, softened

• ¾ cup (150 g) granulated white sugar

• 1 egg, at room temperature

• 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• ½ cup (120 ml) of buttermilk, at room temperature

• 1 ½ teaspoons red gel food coloring

Milk Chocolate Ganache:

• 8 ounces of good quality Milk Chocolate.

• 1 cup of heavy whipping cream.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• ½ cup (112 g) unsalted butter, softened

• 4 oz. (114 g) cream cheese, cold

• 2 cups (260 g) powdered sugar

Instructions

For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners and set aside.

2. leave the unsalted butter and cream cheese on the side, so it will soften.

3. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then set it to one side.

4. In a large bowl add the softened unsalted butter and granulated sugar. Cream together with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy, should take 1-2 minutes.

5. Then add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until pale in color and smooth should take 1-2 minutes.

6. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the eggs/butter/sugar mixture on low speed until all is just combined and the batter is smooth. Make sure to wipe down the sides.

7. Lastly, fold in the red gel food coloring just until combined.

8. Divide the batter among the liners. Each will be about ¾ of the way full. Bake the cupcakes for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

9. When the cupcakes are done baking let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to completely cool.

For the Ganache Center:

1. Finely chop the chocolate.

2. Add the chocolate and heavy cream to a small, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it for 20-30 seconds, then remove it from the microwave and stir well. It won't be melted at first but stir it anyway.

3. Continue heating the ganache in increments of 10-15 seconds, stirring thoroughly after each burst.

4. The mixture will eventually become smooth and creamy. It may initially have some lumps from the chocolate. If that is the case, microwave it one last time for only 10 seconds, then stir again. It should be all smooth now.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. Add the softened, unsalted butter to a bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until pale in color and fluffy, 5-10 minutes.

2. Then add in the cold cream cheese and mix on medium-high speed until combined.

3. Sift in the powdered sugar a cup at a time and mix on low and then high speed until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.

Finally:

Decore the cupcakes using an apple corer and fill them with the ganache. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled (you can put them in the fridge to speed up the process) decorate using the frosting as you see fit.

Now you have the perfect treat! Whether it's Valentine's or not self-care is a year-round endeavor.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, stay tuned for more in the future.