Easy Heart-Shaped Cupcake Tutorial

katefox3141

These heart-shaped cupcakes didn’t come to be subtle…they came to steal hearts and look cute doing it. Dressed up with pink and red sanding sugar and candy hearts, they’re the ultimate Valentine’s Day treat: flirty, festive, and ready in about an hour flat. They’re easy enough for last-minute baking but cute enough to pass for “I planned this,” which is really the dream. If you’re in the mood to spread a little love without committing to a full baking marathon, these cupcakes are here to do the most: with minimal effort and maximum heart eyes.

Love hurts. Cupcakes help.

Ready to break some hearts (the dessert kind)? Follow along with the step-by-step photo and video tutorials below and you’ll be whipping up your own love-struck cupcakes in no time. I’ll walk you through every sweet step so nothing gets crushed—except expectations when people realize how easy these were to make. Grab your piping bag, embrace the sparkle, and get ready to serve up cupcakes so cute they’ll have everyone falling head over heels.

Here’s everything I used for these lil’ heart breakers:

  • Foil
  • Pie weights, marbles, or more foil rolled into a ball
  • Hot pink gel dye
  • Large red heart sprinkles (mine are from Wilton)
  • Hot pink and red sanding sugar or larger flaked sugar (I used both, picked up from Michael’s)
  • Cupcake and frosting recipe below
Almost all the tools you need!
Take a sheet of foil, cut it in half, and cut that in half again.
Fold into small rectangles
Add the pie weight up top to make the top of the heart.
Slide the foil rectangles into the sides to give a heart shape to your cupcake liners.
Add batter carefully, then use a toothpick to evenly distribute in the heart-shaped cups.
Bake according to directions!
Pipe a bit of frosting on top, doesn’t need to be pretty!
Gently smush the cupcake into a bowl with red & pink sanding sugar mixed together and swirl.
This will flatten out the frosting and give you a sparkly heart.
Finish by adding the big heart sprinkle to the middle.
Breaking hearts, not a sweat.

Recipe and Instructions

Gluten free strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting

  • Servings: 22
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Print

Super cute cupcakes perfect for Valentine's Day!

If not gluten free, use any kind of white or yellow cake mix. Monkfruit can also be replaced with regular powdered sugar for frosting. Protein powder can also be replaced with additional monkfruit or regular powdered sugar; note: you will need WAY less liquid in the frosting without protein powder.

Ingredients

CUPCAKE
*1 box of gluten free yellow cake mix (I used Pillsbury Funfetti)
*1 tsp strawberry extract
*1 fat free or skim milk
*85 g (1/3 cup) unsweetened applesauce
*3 eggs

FROSTING
*225 g (1 cup) butter, softened
*12 ounces Lakanto powdered monkfruit
*4 ounces (112 g) Quest vanilla milkshake protein powder (cuts the sweetness of the monkfruit and makes a nice, stiff, spreadable frosting; omit and use all monkfruit if desired)
*1 TBS clear vanilla
*1 tsp strawberry extract
*1 cup plus 2 TBS milk
*1/4 tsp citric acid if you like less sweet frosting

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin with cupcake liners. SEE VIDEO OR PHOTO TUTORIAL TO MAKE HEART SHAPE BEFORE BAKING.
  2. Whisk cake ingredients together in a stand mixer on low for 30 seconds before switching to medium-high for two minutes.
  3. Pour batter evenly into prepared cupcake liners and bake fo16-1824 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean from the center.
  4. Allow cupcakes to cool fully before frosting.
  5. To make frosting, whisk butter for 3 minutes before adding in half the powdered monkfruit, protein powder, vanilla, strawberry, and milk.
  6. Add in remaining monkfruit mix fully.
  7. Once fully cooled, frost your cupcakes and use the video and galleries above to decorate.
  8. Keep cupcakes covered and in the fridge. It is best served at room temp, so remove from fridge 30 minutes before eating. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Macros
22 servings
136 cal/16.4 c/5.9 f/4.3 p per slice
Love at first bite.
Sweet but dangerously delicious.

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Published by katefox3141

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