One More Valentine Sweet! ~ Hidden Heart Cupcakes

I made one more Valentine sweet for my sweet. 🙂 These hidden heart cupcakes are another idea inspired by Cupcake Jemma that I just couldn’t resist trying! I think they are so adorable. 🙂

I made mine with a beet whole-wheat red velvet cake in the middle and a simple whole-wheat yellow cake for the outside. The yellow cake was from a recipe I made before, but the red velvet cake was new for me. I think the red velvet would also be delicious on its own, so you might see more red velvet cakes in the future!Hidden Heart Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cake:

3/4 cup packed beet pulp

1/4 cup light olive oil

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup skim milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Yellow Cake:

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup light olive oil

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons skim milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the red velvet cake:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spray a 9-inch cake pan with oil. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Steam the beet pulp until it is tender. Purée in a food processor. When the beets are puréed, add the oil and sugar, and process until smooth. Add the egg, and process until incorporated. Then add the milk and vanilla, and process until smooth.

In a large bowl, add the flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Whisk until well combined. Then add the beet mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.

Fill the prepared cake tin, and bake for about 27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool.

Once the cake is cool, invert it onto a cutting board. With a small heart-shaped cookie cutter (approximately 1-inch high), punch hearts out of the cake. Squeeze the cake in the cookie cutter with your fingers so it is compact. Gently work the cake hearts out of the cookie cutters and set aside. The hearts can be made a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

For the yellow cake:

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Line a standard-sized muffin tin with 12 baking liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisk until well incorporated. Add half of the dry ingredients, and whisk until combined. Then add the milk and vanilla, and whisk until combined. Finally, add the remaining dry ingredients, and whisk until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.

To assemble:

Scoop about 2 tablespoons of the yellow cake batter into the bottom of each lined muffin cup. Bake for about 5 minutes, until slightly set, but not completely baked. Place a heart, tip side down, into each muffin cup. The semi-baked batter should hold it upright. Fill the cups with the remaining batter until they are about 4/5 full. The top of the heart will still be visible.

Bake for about 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the yellow cake comes out clean.Decorate with powdered sugar or chocolate frosting. (Recipe for the frosting to follow!) For this batch I used my set of Valentine cupcake stencils for the top. A simple dusting of powdered sugar was all they needed. I made sure to keep all of my cakes in alignment and dusted the designs in the same direction so I knew which way to cut into the cakes to reveal the heart.