Valentine's Day Cupcakes
Colourful. Fun. Gooey. What better way to say "I love you" than with a homemade cupcake? My Valentine's Day Cupcakes are super easy to make, fun to decorate, and the perfect baking activity with kids! With a one-bowl chocolate cupcake batter, a surprise Nutella filling, and a fluffy raspberry buttercream, this recipe is as fun to make as it is to eat! Add your favourite sprinkles, Valentine’s Day candies, or even heart-shaped toppers to make these cupcakes extra special.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Flour All-purpose
- 1 cup Sugar Granulated
- 1/3 cup Cocoa Dutch processed/Superior Red
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 3/4 tsp Espresso Powder optional (for enhanced chocolate flavour)
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 cup MIlk of your choice!
- 1/4 cup Canola Oil or other light vegetable oil
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 cup Hot Water just boiled
Raspberry Frosting
- 3/4 cups Unsalted Butter softened (either heated in the microwave in 10s increments or left out at room temperature for 1-2h)
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1-2 tbsp Raspberry Jam (seedless) To your taste/sweetness
- 4-5 tbsp Heavy Cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Bean paste
- 1/2 tsp Salt Flaked or sea salt
Assembly
- 1/2 cup Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread such as Nutella
- 1/2 cup Valentine's Day Candy such as Candy Hearts, gummy candy, cinnamon hearts, or chocolate hearts/pieces!
- Sprinkles your favourite colour and textures!
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Line 1-2 cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside.
One-bowl Chocolate Cupcakes
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, espresso powder, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Whisk until all ingredients are well combined.
- To the flour mixture, add egg, vegetable oil, vanilla, and milk. Mix until all wet ingredients are well combined with the dry ingredients. A thick, glossy, dark brown mixture will form.
- Add boiling water to the thick mixture. (Note: Remember to add the hot water slowly! This step is best performed by an adult)
- Gently stir until the mixture becomes thin - this is your cupcake batter.
- Pour approximately ¼ cup of your cupcake batter into each cupcake liner.
- Bake cupcakes for ~22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the cupcake/muffin pans and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Raspberry Buttercream
- In your large bowl with an electric mixer, slowly beat softened butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar.
- Gradually add remaining powdered sugar and then increase mixer speed. Add 2 tbsp of heavy cream and vanilla to the frosting. Continue to beat on medium speed.
- Add raspberry jam, additional heavy cream (2 tbsp), and mix to combine. Beat until light and fluffy, adding an additional tablespoon of heavy cream, if needed.
- Add frosting to piping bag, fitted with a large, star tip. Set aside.
Assembly
- Gather your cooled cupcakes and a small knife (this step is best performed by an adult!).
- Create a hole in the centre of each cupcakes, and remove the cake centre. Set aside the tops of your cupcake centres.
- Fill each cupcake with 1 tsp of chocolate-hazelnut spread.
- Top each filled cupcake centre with the top of your removed cupcake tops
- Decorate cupcakes with swirls of frosting, Valentine's Day candy, and/or sprinkles!
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Sofia's Tips:
- All-purpose flour works very well for these cupcakes! There is no need for special cake/pastry flour.
- This cake batter will be very thin after you add the hot water – don’t panic!
- Mess-Free Nutella Filling: Use a piping bag to neatly fill cupcakes.
- Perfect Cupcakes Every Time: Don’t overfill the liners—3/4 full is perfect!
- Are you hoping to frost these cupcakes at a later date?! Great Idea – these cupcakes freeze very well.
- Simply allow them to fully cool once out of the oven and once cooled, place them side by side in an air-tight freezer bag. These cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 months without loss of quality.
- To thaw frozen cupcakes, place them at room temperature for at least 1 hour, then bring to room temperature, fill, and decorate away!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!