Cupcakes for Valentine's Day

 

This week’s bake is for Valentine’s day and are Vanilla Cupcakes with Pink Hearts baked in the middle of each cupcake !   from Cupcake Jemma

The heart shape is recognized the world over as a symbol of romantic love and affection, but its historical origins are difficult to pin down. Some believe the iconic pictogram is derived from the shape of ivy leaves, which are associated with fidelity, while others contend it was modeled after breasts, buttocks or other parts of the human anatomy. 

Scholars such as Pierre Vinken and Martin Kemp have argued that the symbol has its roots in the writings of Galen and the philosopher Aristotle, who described the human heart as having three chambers with a small dent in the middle. 

According to this theory, the heart shape may have been born when artists and scientists from the Middle Ages attempted to draw representations of ancient medical texts. In the 14th century, for example, the Italian physicist Guido da Vigevano made a series of anatomical drawings featuring a heart that closely resembles the one described by Aristotle. 

Since the human heart has long been associated with emotion and pleasure, the shape was eventually co-opted as a symbol of romance and medieval courtly love. It grew especially popular during the Renaissance, when it was used in religious art depicting the Sacred Heart of Christ and as one of the four suits in playing cards. By the 18th and 19th centuries, meanwhile, it had become a recurring motif in love notes and Valentine’s Day cards.

Here is the recipe:

How to Bake a Heart Inside a Cupcake 

Cupcake Jemma

For the pink hearts - 

200g soft unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

3 lg free range eggs

50g self raising flour

150g plain flour

1 tbsp whole milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

A blob of pink food colour paste

For the Cupcakes:

125g soft unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

2 lag free range eggs

125g self raising flour

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1.5 tbs whole milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream 

1 tbsp vanilla 15mL

1 lb confectioner's sugar 454g

1 cup unsalted butter 225g, room temperature

3 tbsp heavy whipping cream 45mL

1/2 tsp salt

and heart decorations!

Instructions:

pink hearts

Grease and flour and two 2 8" round tins and line bottom with parchment paper

add sugar & butter and beat for a few mins until pale, white and fluffy

add eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed, mixing quite well for each egg

Sift flours into bowl and mix gently into batter in separate dish add vanilla into milk and add pink food colour into milk and mix well

add coloured milk into batter slowly and gently

finish mixing by hand until thoroughly mixed

add to each tin and level with a pallette knife

bake at 350 F for 20 mins

let cool

level off top of cake 

using heart shaped cookie cutter - cut out 12 hearts

Cupcakes

sift flour, baking soda, sugar into mixing bowl

add butter and eggs

mix on slow, then increase speed and beat for about a minute

in separate container, add vanilla into milk, mix and then mix into batter

once mixed spoon batter into case of cupcake tin

grab pink hearts and push pink hearts into center of cupcakes - all the way down to the bottom

place them all in the same direction

bake at 375  F for 18-20 mins

let cupcakes cool

Make buttercream and frost each cupcake 

top with decorative hearts

Here are some pictures from the bake:

Have a Great Valentines Day !!!