The original inspiration for this came from an amazing blog. You can find it here
This is how you do it.
1. Make your cupcake batter. You can use any light coloured sponge recipe, although you should make sure it is a moist recipe and not too dry. Why not try the easy peasy lemon squeezy recipe or madeira cake recipe?
2. Once you have made your batter separate a 1/3 of it into a different bowl. Cling film the remaining 2/3rds of batter mix and leave to one side.
3. Use food colouring or natural alternatives to dye the 1/3rd you have just separated to the colour of your choice. I’ve chosen pink for my hearts.
4. Grease the base/sides of a square, (any shape will do, i just preferred square for doing this) deep baking tray and pour in the coloured mixture to a depth of a couple of centermeters. Use your judgement here, you are looking for a risen depth that will fit into your cupcake cases, whilst leaving room for the non dyed batter as well.
5. Pop the baking tray into the oven at the temperature the recipe suggests. Take the cake out as soon as it is firm enough to handle being cut into. Try and avoid baking for the full suggested recipe time if you can. Keep testing it so that you can remove from the oven the second it is firm enough to cut.
6. Once firmed take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool completely. Popping it into the fridge will speed the process up.
7. Use a small heart shaped cutter to cut out shapes from the coloured cake. Pop in the fridge to cool, or even freeze for 30 minutes to help prevent overcooking when you re-bake them.
8. Place your cupcake cases into your muffin tin. Remove the clingfilm from your 2/3rd non dyed batter and spoon a dollop into the base of each case.
9. Take each heart and stand it vertically (point to the base) into the dollop of batter. Then spoon a dollop of batter on either side of the heart. Make sure your batter reaches roughly the half way mark of the cupcake, high enough to support the heart, but remembering that the batter will rise! Remember you want the batter to rise OVER the top of your heart so add enough to achieve this. You can also add a dollop of batter over the top of the heart to help.
10. Carry this technique on until you have filled all the cupcake cases.
11. Cover the muffin tin completely in tinfoil in order to prevent the pre-baked hearts from drying out and allow the cupcakes to cook evenly from the sides/base.
12. Cook for the full amount of time as dictated by your recipe, then remove and cool.
Tip* When decorating these create a design that makes it clear which way round these should be eaten from. If you cut in the wrong way all you get is a coloured shape and not a beautiful heart!
You could try this technique with circles, stars, teddy bears, practically any shape that is small enough to fit inside a cupcake!
There are many many things that can be baked into cupcakes, try whole fruits or sweets, or even posh chocolates!
For more HOW TO’s just click on the links below
HOW TO: Make a giant cupcake chocolate casing.
HOW TO: Make hot air balloon cupcakes
Amazing
We tried this, hopefully to be implemented at our gender reveal party, and all but one heart rose to the top of the cupcake. Any idea why or suggestions to keep them from floating and turning?
Hi! I’m sad that it didnt work for you! I cannot think why they would rise? Did you place a blobs either side of the heart? Maybe your hearts need to be a little bigger so that they fit more snug into the cases? The only thing i can think is that the hearts were too small and floated about. I hope you have better luck next time! x
I’d suggest putting a little bit of batter over the top of the hearts, if they start floating. Maybe that’ll help weigh it down a bit.
Toothpicks maybe? stab it through the top to where the pick rests on the pan? i havent tried it but its worth a shot!
Hi Catie, that could work!
If you used two you could also see which way round the cakes were when taking them out so you would always know which way round your hearts were in order to decorate and then cut them the correct way each time to reveal the hearts! Great idea! xx
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Love the heart! Beautiful cupcakes!
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These are AMAZING! I’m so impressed! I just found your blog and I’m loving it!
Blessings,
Jenni (Pancake Art)
These are just beautiful! Thanks for the how-to!
I am definitely going to try these
Ah, beautiful!
Need to try that asap…
Next week afterI’ve finished my exams, I’m gonna do it.
Thanks for sharing!!
XOXO.
Actually there are batters that are lighter in weight than others.
I made these and the result was very good, but when tried with my gramma’s famous beet cake recipe (which is light, fluffy and naturally pink
), not only i popped it in the fridge to cool but also poked very few holes with a toothpick and sprinkled it with milk (about half a cup) the liquid made the shapes more heavy and less prone to dry when baking the final product.
I hope it helps!!!! Yum yum
This looks so tasty! But, I’m sure I’ll mess it up!
LOVE this and the idea of poking toothpick holes in the hearts with a little milk to moisten and make heavy in order to to ‘settle’ the heart to not ‘float’! I love your blog…with love. <3
Hi! So cute this cupcakes! What is the frosting of these? How u made this blue top? Is it fondant?
Thanks!
XoXo
Hi Juliana,
Yes its just sugarpaste, coloured blue. There is a layer of butter cream underneath to help create that domed look. Glad you like them! xx
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I love this! Thank you, I very well may try this this weekend! I have a faux wedding to cater. (Yeah, don’t ask, my family is weird, daughter’s fave TV show has the word wedding in the upcoming episode’s title, and so she’s decided we should have a little wedding reception party complete with cake, dinner, and possibly after, dancing.)
I made with orange pumpkins and they were awesome!!!!
I will be going (hopefully!!!) to Myrtle Beach soon and when we are there, there are many potluck lucheons that we go to. People expect great things from me, and I think these will make a huge hit! Thanks for the how-to!!!!! I now have you bookmarked so I can follow your posts!
Love,
Softa123
These are soooo incredibly cute. I just saw a ghost inside a cake but she didn’t give directions, and this could probably do it!
oh these cupcakes are so cute!!
and i really want to try
please can you also do a video on how to do this because i don’t really understand the way how to make this
Yes I thought the same thing. Or pictures of what each step looks like. This could be really helpful. But I am still gonna give it a blind shot and let you all know what I think. Really cool idea…
Hiya, i promise I plan to do this, i’m just struggling to find the time with a 12 week old! As soon as I can, i will, promise.
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These are adorable! The grandkids will love them.
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WOW!! What a fantastice idea!! Thanks for sharing xxx
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What do u mean by cupcake cases??
Just the paper that surrounds the cupcakes, that you cook them in. Sorry, I cant think of another word for them except cases!
… also known as muffin or cupcake liners. You can find them in the baking aisle at the store.
cupcake liners, the little fluted paper liners that go into the muffin tins that you peel off when you are ready to eat them.
Thanks guys, i couldnt think of other words!
xx
super, duper cute!!! love these
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So so so cute! I can’t wait to try this! I’ve just bought tons of cookie cutters, and I think this will be the first thing I do with it!
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I love love loveee this idea and I thought it was be super cute to make for valentines day this year. But I’m having trouble imagining the steps. It would be so great if you can make a tutorial or someone make a tutorial for those who might have trouble or questions about the steps. Thank you !
Hi Helen, i’ll see what i can do in the next few weeks. I have a newborn baby so its all a bit tricky right now.. as soon as he sleeps, i’ll do a step by step for you.
Have you been able to make a video yet?
It’d be a photo-diary, and no, sorry, not yet. Once my baby starts sleeping better i’ll get back to my hobbies.
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who in the freak cuts their cupcakes in half anyway? what a dumb idea!
If you bite into them you can still see the heart….. you don’t have to cut them…
Perhaps you shouldn’t post if you have nothing nice or helpful to say eh? Just a thought.
dern, i wish i could do this… looks and sounds way too complicated!
I made the hearts last night, they are a bit hard at the moment, will they be ok for when I bake today in the cupcakes? Or will they be very hard in the cupcake? Thanks!
Sounds like they were cooked for a little bit too long, so might dry out even more when re-cooked. You can try though…..x
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Love it! I want to try it with little cow cookie cutters! Thanks for the great directions!
how do you “direct” the direction of the biting? so that the heart shows when you bite it?
i need some guidance – i want to make these – but, i’m not sure what to do to “make” them bite them the right way?
ideas?
This is something i was wondering as well. When I made them I handed them out so knew which way round to give them to make it work as I’d put a tiny mark on the edge of each one. I was thinking next time some words like ‘eat me’ or even ‘this way up’ would look cute (like something from Alice in wonderland) and people would naturally bite into them correctly. Anyone have any other ideas?
.
when you display them have one cut in half so that they can see all the hard work you did, somewhat like the picture featured above. People will then say that is cool and then say well bite this way and you will see it in your….
very cute idea.
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Hi there
Im making the easy peasy lemon squeezy cake for the hearts and when i put my red food coloring in it, it turned orange? Did I do somthing wrong?
Thanks for your help,
Kelly!
p.s. i also had to use the entire batter because it wasnt enough so im going to make another batter for the actual cupcakes….
The amount of batter you need is always going to depend on how many cupcakes you are making, and how big your cases are. If you make them with muffin cases then i guess it will need quite a lot of batter. I hope your cakes turn out well and thank you for visiting.
Hi Kelly. Sounds like you needed to add a bit more food colouring to get a vibrant red. I find it quite hard to get a ‘real’ red in baking/sugarcraft. It is easier if you use the pastes than the liquid food colouring. With sugar paste i actually but pre-made red paste as i find it so difficult to get a real red, it always seems to end up a bit pinky or washed out. Next time try adding more colour to the batter or use colour pastes instead maybe?
I will try that! Thanks so much for responding!
These look awesome! I can’t wait to try and make them. Thanks for the recipe/instructions
you are welcome.
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do you think this would work with a cookie or brownie heart inside the cupcake?
Hmmm…. i’m not sure about a cookie, it might go soggy. A brownie would work, yet i think it would become cake like with the double bake and not be so moist. Why not give it a go though, i bet it’ll still taste yummy even if its a bit more cakey and a bit less brownie-ish.
xx
I wonder about trying this in a loaf pan, then each slice would have a heart, I want to try that…
I also think freezing the layer cake before you cut the hearts will make the heart easier to handle. Looks like a fun thing to try…thanks for the idea.
Hi Tara, i’m sure it would work in a loaf pan, i’d love to see a picture of the finished cake when you’ve tried it! xx
could you use the canape bread molds I have seen for the heart shape and slice it vertically then place that shape inside your cupcake batter?
Hi Connie, i’d never heard of these molds before, just had a google and absolutely, i’m sure it would work. Might save time as well!! I guess you’d have to make the heart batter in a loaf tin or something first, then turn it out and push the mold through, Slice and off you go. Alternatively, you could just keep it as one long heart and re-bake into a loaf, so that each slice of the loaf had a heart inside. That would look gorgeous!!
Hi, there;
I just wanted to let you know that you’re featured in a recent ParentMap.com article. I couldn’t find an email address for you, so here’s the link:
http://www.parentmap.com/article/20-valentines-day-treats-for-kids-and-families
We will also be featuring this story throughout our social media communities this month, here’s where you can find us:
Facebook.com/ParentMap
Twitter.com/ParentMap
Pinterest.com/ParentMap
Best regards,
Jen Betterley
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Amazing! I’m definitely going to give this a try!
I made these. I have a picture but I am on my iPhone so I can’t post it. The first pan didn’t turn out to well as all the tops of my hearts were still showing but on the second pan I put a dollop of batter on the top of the heart and they turned out perfect! Next time I think I’m going to put the batter in my piping bag to make it easier and more efficient. Thanks for the awesome idea.
Glad it worked out for you, email your picture to madewithlovebyme@hotmail.co.uk when you have time, i’d love to see the result! x
Made them but after I baked them I could still see the top of the love heart
try adding more batter to each side so it doesnt have far to rise before covering the top of the heart. x
Thanks will try it soon x
I made these for a poker party once. I did hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades in the cupcakes. They were a BIG hit! (But the clubs & spades were more purple than black.)
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What a clever and sweet idea! I had to pin it on the CraftBliss Sweet Valentine Bliss Board on Pinterest and link back to you. ~Dee
Does a cake mix work?
Hi Becky, I don’t see why not although i’ve never used a cake mix before.
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Loved making these this afternoon! Next time I willput more mix round the sides so my stars are not poking out the top. But for a first attempt I’m really happy
Here’s a photo of them
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fmckinlay/6847574747/in/photostream
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What a great idea! I have made cupcakes inside of cupcakes before and it worked out really well. Never thought of using a shape. Will definitely be trying this!
Love it! I will try!
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I loved the tutorial! It’s something that I will definitely be doing alot more often!
see pic;
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p30/natt12321/DSCF5187.jpg
Hi Bakergirl. They look GREAT!! Well done. Glad you like the tutorial.
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This is so difficult – i am battling to follow instructions – is there any way you could post photos to go along with the instructions? Thank you
Hiya, I will try and get round to doing this soon. x