Looking for something quick and easy for Valentine’s Day? Here are four ideas to dazzle your loved one’s sweet tooth!
#1 Frosting Roses
Instead of doing that same old thing and giving someone roses, why not change it up a bit and give some frosting roses instead?
Before you start, decide what colors you want to use. Pink and red? Purple and pink? Orange and pink? You want your cupcake to look appealing!
Start by icing your cupcake in a base color, smooth the icing if you wish, its not really necessary since you’ll be covering it with a frosting rose.
At this point if you want to put some sprinkles around the outside edge of your cupcake, now is the time! Lay down a thin layer of sprinkles on a surface and gently roll your cupcake through. This will give an even coating. Keep your color scheme in mind! Pick a color that will complement rather than contrast.
Now pipe out a rose! Once you have your rose on your cupcake add your leaves. A good rule of thumb is to have three leaves for every rose. Arrange then in a triangle formation. (Can’t pipe a rose? No problem! You can use a large star tip to pipe a rosette, or pipe on a daisy instead!)
To finish this cupcake off, add some edible glitter!
#2 Chocolate Dipped Strawberry
Can anyone resist a strawberry covered in chocolate? I know I can’t. This cupcake is simple and combines two desserts into one!
Before you start icing your cupcakes you will want to dip all your strawberries first. You will want to be able to top your cupcake with the berry as soon as you finish icing it so that your strawberry will have a chance to stick to the icing. I cut my strawberries in half, but you can use whole strawberries if you want to.
To dip your strawberries first melt some chocolate pennies. This is the same chocolate you would use for candy molds. You can use a double boiler method or your microwave.
When dipping strawberries I like to leave a margin of red at the top to contrast with the chocolate and it just looks more appetizing. Once your berries are all dipped you can drizzle some more chocolate on top to give them a more finished look. If you really want your cupcakes to ‘pop’ try drizzling the berries with either red, pink, or white chocolate!
Choose a lighter color to ice your cupcakes, you want your chocolate covered strawberry to stand out! White or light pink would be good choices. Get your sprinkles ready if you decide to add them!
I would suggest when piping your frosting on the cupcake you mound it up in the center so that you can prop your strawberry up at an angle. Once they are all iced, roll through sprinkles and top with your berries.
You can garnish with chocolate sticks, chocolate curls, or maybe even a piece of pocky cut in half. Yum!
#3 Chocolate Hearts
This is a fun cupcake to make, you can be creative with your design! I chose to make chocolate hearts, but you can make any design you like, even write out words! I have made some with ‘Love’ written in chocolate and you can even put some cupcakes in a row and make a message like, “I Love You”!
I find parchment paper works best for making chocolate designs because you can easily peel off the hardened chocolate. If you don’t have parchment paper you can use waxed paper. Use the same chocolate as mentioned above, only you’ll need a disposable pastry bag too.
The easiest way to get chocolate in the bag is to put the chocolate pennies in the bag, secure with a rubber-band, and then melt in the microwave. Zap it in 30 second intervals do you don’t over cook it. Make sure the chocolate is a manageable temperature before you start handling it, you don’t want to get burned!
Start with cutting a small piece from the tip of the bag to test the flow of chocolate, you can always make the cut larger. Pipe out your designs and have fun! You can always eat your mistakes or reuse the hardened chocolate later. If you are writing words, use cursive because all the letters will connect together to make one piece. If you decide to make hearts, pipe a variety of sizes to make your cupcake look more interesting. Again, you can decide to use pink, red, or white chocolate for this purpose as well.
Now you’re ready to pipe your cupcakes! You can use a large round tip to produce the spiky effect I made here or do your own thing. I find using the round tip works best since it will give your chocolate the support it needs to stand upright. You can also just pipe the cupcake in a normal fashion with the frosting mounded up in the center so you have something to prop your chocolate against.
Add sprinkles or edible glitter on top if you like!
#4 Conversation Hearts
It’s just not Valentine’s Day without Conversation Hearts!
I like to use both large and small sized hearts because it looks more appealing. If you used all small or all large it might look a little boring. Also, try to use a variety of colors. If you decide to put hearts together to write a message you’ll want to plan it out beforehand and set them aside.
This cupcake does not have a sprinkle edge, but you can certainly put one on!
Pick a complementing color to ice your cupcakes with, I suggest light pink or blue to make sure all the colors of the hearts will stand out. Mound your frosting up in the center and place two large hearts at the top, one slightly higher than the other and at an angle. Add your smaller hearts around the bottom.
I used clear edible glitter to give the cupcake a little sparkle.
I hope these ideas helped! Please be creative and have fun, I’m sure you’ll end up with your own designs too!