Be My Valentine Cupcakes (small batch)

This is the first of what I hope will be a once a month series of cupcakes that are themed for each month. We will be using our divided cake mix portions from my last blog post. If you missed that post here is a link to it. Basically I show you how to divide a box of cake mix from the grocery store so you can make small batches of cupcakes.

This cupcake actually caused me to loose some sleep because I woke up at 1AM one morning with the idea starting to form in my brain. I couldn't go back to sleep until around 4 because I kept thinking of what I wanted to do with it. In those 3 hours although I missed out on sleep I came up with this cupcake recipe. I had to be at work that day at 9AM but as soon as I got home I started working on my test batch. They turned out just as I had imagined during those hours of not sleeping.

My inspiration for these is simply a box of Valentine's Day chocolates. I wanted to represent those wonderful chocolates in a cupcake form and make something special that you can make for someone special.

So for the base of the cupcake I wanted a really nice rich, dark chocolate cupcake. I used my Devil's Food cake mix and by using regular strength coffee in place of the water I knew that would deepen the chocolate flavor without adding much in the way of coffee flavor. I simply made a cup of coffee (use whatever plain coffee you have) and allowed it to cool to room temperature. The rest of the ingredients were done as normal for my cupcakes. I got 7 cupcakes this time which is pretty normal sometimes I do get 8 sometimes 6 it all depends on how much batter goes in each cup of the pan.

Bake as directed on the box (350° F for 20 minutes) be sure to test a couple of them to make sure they are all cooked.

Just before the cupcakes are done baking we are going to make up a small batch of Cherry Jello. I use the kind with real sugar so that is what the measurements I am giving will work with.

Now it was time to frost these beauties. I used my go chocolate frosting but replaced some of the liquid with more of that coffee. My standard cocoa powder is the Hershey Special Dark variety. If you love dark chocolate and can find this in your grocery store I definitely recommend picking it up. The result is a rich dark chocolate frosting that pipes beautifully and tastes divine. You will notice that I use vegetable shortening in my frosting instead of butter. That is because a nice fresh batch of shortening doesn't really add any flavor of its own while I find that although I love butter the flavor can be overpowering in frosting.

Here are the recipes I hope you like these cupcakes. I look forward to bringing you more special cupcakes in the months to come.

Be My Valentine Cupcakes

1 egg

1/3 cup coffee (room temperature)

3 ½ Tablespoons vegetable oil

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 of a box of devil's food cake mix (15.25 oz size box)

Line the wells of a muffin/cupcake pan with paper liners. 

Heat oven to temperature required on your cake mix box directions.

Combine the liquid ingredients and beat well. Add the cake mix, stir and then beat with hand held mixer for 1 minute 15 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds.

 

Divide batter between the prepared liners and bake as directed on the box. 

 

During the last few minutes of baking prepare the Jello.

Combine

1/3 boiling water

2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of the cherry jello powder

Stir to combine, if the jello doesn't dissolve I usually put mine in the microwave oven for about 30 seconds to dissolve it. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes then transfer to a squeeze bottle. (If you don't have a squeeze bottle you can use a spoon it is just a lot messier)

 

When cupcakes are cooked through use a bamboo skewer to poke holes in each one (I like 5) Then carefully pour the jello over all the cupcakes. Try to divide it evenly and allow it to soak into the cupcakes.

Cool on a rack for 10 minutes then move to the refrigerator to cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

¼ cocoa powder

3 Tablespoons all vegetable shortening (Crisco)

2 Tablespoons room temperature coffee

1 Tablespoon half and half or milk (this amount is approximate you might need a bit more or a bit less to make the frosting the correct consistency)

Mix the powdered sugar and cocoa powder then add the shortening and using a hand held mixer combine well. Add the coffee and beat thoroughly. Continue beating and add the half and half (or milk) until the correct consistency is reached.

Put frosting into a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 4B pipingtip. Pipe the frosting in a simple swirl sprinkle with holiday sprinkles and enjoy.

Yield:7 to 8 cupcakes