Every year at this time, my Facebook news feed is clogged by people either gushing about Valentine’s Day or moaning about it being a pointless holiday created by the media and Hallmark.
I personally don’t have any hard feelings against it. While I think every day should be a day filled with expressions of gratitude and thankfulness for those we love, why not devote one special candy- and flower-filled day to love?
One of the things that I miss about being a kid is celebrating Valentine’s Day at school (elementary school in particular). My mom and I would create a Valentine box by decorating a shoe box or something similar. I remember one year we cut out images from magazines that were of things that I liked at the time. (One of the clippings was of Donny Osmond. Why? Because I loved the movie Mulan and he sang Shang’s song. 😉 )
It was difficult being allergic to chocolate (dairy) and nuts during Valentine’s Day, but I remember many of my elementary school teachers were understanding, and more often than not, I didn’t have to worry about my allergies. Ah, to be a kid again. 🙂
In recent years, I’ve celebrated the day with – what else? – food. As I’ve mentioned before, I love giving gifts in the form of food, and others don’t seem to mind too much, either. Well, a few weekends ago, I decided to make some cupcakes for a girl that I babysit (whose birthday is conveniently close to Valentine’s Day). While the babysitting job fell through, and I wasn’t able to give her the cupcakes, my family and I enjoyed the benefits of early Valentine treats.
Sweetheart Cupcakes
I used my Amazing Chocolate Cupcake recipe to make the cupcakes (note: the recipe is dairy and nut free, so it would be great for people who can’t have any of the holiday candy out right now!) and decorated them based on inspiration from good ol’ Pinterest. Instead of dying the frosting pink, I colored it using red sprinkles. This was partially because we didn’t have any red food coloring, but it turned out really well because the frosting was a lovely shade and had little red dots in it. To make the heart shape, I carefully sliced off the rounded top to each cupcake, then used a tiny cookie cutter to pop out the heart.
I loved the results – both the taste and the presentation!
(Those little hearts make very good sandwiches…just sayin’. 😉 )
After making a few cupcakes in the above fashion, I decided to do a few opposite, which I also loved:
Click on over to the recipe, and get decorating!
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Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
Who would you share these cupcakes with?
(P.S. I haven’t gone crazy – I know the holiday isn’t for a couple more days; I just wanted to share this idea with you all before the actual day! 😛 )
Liv Lives Life 
You and your baking KILLS me!!! Oh man those look so tempting, I really wish I had some cake mix and frosting in the house…
🙂 Thanks! Did you check out the recipe? You might have all of the things on hand to make it…?
so creative without wasting ingredients. love it!
🙂
So cute. This would work for any holiday.
Love the contrast of pink and chocolate brown in the pictures. Looks delicious.
I was thinking that too – it would be fun to get a shamrock cutter for St. Patty’s Day! 🙂
Really cute!
Thank you!
So cute!!:)
Thanks! 🙂
My compliments to the chef! 😉
Thank you!
[…] …and a frozen/thawed Sweetheart Cupcake. […]
They look both delicious and super cute.
😀
How freaking ADORABLE!!! I LOVE IT 🙂 Great idea
Aw, thanks!
I love Valentines purely for the fact that it allows me to indulge loved ones with chocolatey treats. I’ve gone a bit crazy these past couple of weeks, making lots of raw chocolates and desserts. My favourite part has been watching friends and family enjoying them 🙂 I’ve also got a raw chocolate giveaway on my blog at the moment (ends tonight!)
Hope you’re have a great day. Happy Valentines to you & your loved ones xx
I couldn’t agree more! I’m definitely heading over to your blog to check everything out. I love raw chocolates! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!