Surprise Heart Inside Cupcakes

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These suprise heart inside cupcakes are the perfect Valentine's Day treat!

Prep Time1

Cook Time20

Total Time1 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 352kcal

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cupcakes have cooled, crumble the cupcakes into a medium-sized bowl with your hands. Add 1/4 cup of buttercream frosting. Mix with your hands. You want the consistency of play-doh. Add more frosting if you need to.
Roll out the mixture onto a silicone baking mat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Using a small heart cookie cutter, cut out the hearts for the center. Each cupcake needs two hearts. Place them on a plate or in a baking dish and store in your refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.
Add the sugar to the butter mixture, ¼ cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Combine the buttermilk and the vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

Place the batter into a piping bag and snip the end off. Pipe a small amount of batter into the bottoms of your liners, just enough to cover the bottom.
Place two hearts side by side inside each cupcake well. Cover with more cupcake batter.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 18-22 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack.
To make the vanilla buttercream frosting: Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add in your powdered sugar 1/2 cup at at time with mixer on low. Cream until combined. With mixer off, add your heavy cream and vanilla extract and then mix on low until combined. Then mix on medium to medium high speed for 8 minutes until light and fluffy. Add pink food coloring until you achieve the desired color. Use right away on cooled cupcakes.