Valentine's Day Cakes with Decorative Centres
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Difficulty:
advanced
Difficulty
Preparation:
1 hr 40 min.
Preparation
ready in 2 h.
Ready in
Ingredients
for
12
- For the cupcakes
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsps Baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 pinch salt
- ⅞ cup milk
- red Food coloring
- For the buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsps cream (48% fat)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsps Cranberry juice
- red Food coloring
- To decorate
- sugar heart
Preparation steps
1.
For the cupcakes: heat the oven to 180°C (160° fan) 350°F gas 4. Place paper cases in a 12 hole muffin tin. Grease a 20cm|8" square baking tin.
2.
Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs and vanilla until well blended.
3.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and stir in gently, alternately with the milk until blended, until the mixture is a soft dropping consistency.
4.
Pour about 300ml|1 1/2 cups of the mixture into a smaller bowl and stir in the food colouring, a few drops at a time (the colour will lighten a little during baking).
5.
Pour the pink mixture into the square tin and bake for about 20 minutes, until a skewer or wooden cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.
6.
Cut the pink cake into 12 hearts with a 5cm|2" heart-shaped cutter. Freeze for 20 minutes.
7.
Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the remaining plain mixture into the paper cases. Stand the hearts vertically with the bottom of the heart pointing down into the mixture.
8.
Spoon more plain mixture on either side of the hearts, making sure that the mixture reaches roughly halfway up the paper cases, high enough to support the hearts, (the mixture will rise) then more mixture over the top of the heart.
9.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and risen. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.
10.
For the buttercream: beat the butter until soft and creamy. Sift in the icing sugar and beat well until thick and creamy. Beat in the cream and vanilla until smooth.
11.
Spoon half the buttercream into another bowl and beat in the cranberry juice. Stir in a few drops of food colouring.
12.
Spread the plain buttercream on the cakes.
13.
Spoon the pink buttercream into a piping bag and pipe hearts on top of the cakes. Decorate with sugar hearts.
