Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean spending lots of money on showy gifts. It means taking the time to think about your loved one and do something special for them. In our case, DH and The Girls donned their aprons to demonstrate their love by baking Secret Centre Love Cupcakes, a phrase coined by my gorgeous girls because “they look like love- pink and sprinkly and so delicious and they have a secret surprisey middle bit”. I don’t know where they get it from!
- 100g butter, room temperature
- 100g caster sugar
- 100g self raising flour plus 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- Put everything in a mixer and blend until smooth, with 1 tbsp milk.
- Pour into lined cupcake cases.
- Bake on grid shelf on the floor of the Roasting Oven in the Aga, with the Cold Shelf two rungs above, for about 18 minutes until risen and brown.
- Leave to cool then use a knife to cut out a dip in the centre of your cupcakes and add half a teaspoon of jam, then add the wedge of cake back onto the top and press down. Don’t overfill.
- Ice in a decadent fashion to hide the secret surprise in your cupcake.
NB- there is a plunger tool that you can buy to remove a centre from your cupcakes more neatly!
The Love Cupcakes- vanilla sponge crowned with swirls of thick pink icing- that they made with daddy’s help and decorated entirely by themselves were fabulous. The beauty of the Renshaw Snip and Swirl icing that they were sent is that it is absolutely ready-to-use. You do exactly as the package suggests: snip off the end, pipe and swirl the icing on your cake before decorating as you wish. I can make icing from scratch, but that puts a lot of people off as they think they don’t possess the skills, or the ingredients: a box of this on your shelf and anyone can ice, in chocolate, vanilla or strawberry.
In our house, we take the more-is-more approach to both icing and sprinkles: these babies were stacked so high with sweet strawberry icing which had been smothered in Pink and White Pearls, Mini Chocolate Beans & Multi-Coloured Sprinkles that they kept falling over and exposing the gorgeous red metallic cupcake cases!
What my family, and indeed Renshaw, who sent the items mentioned for the purposes of this post, didn’t realise was that they gave me so much more than the Love Cupcakes one rainy Sunday Afternoon. They gave me a picture of my family to cherish; they gave me a special father-daughter moment to witness; they gave me five minutes to sit and watch my rapidly-growing children and commit their joy, enthusiasm and love to memory. They gave me the chance to drink a cup of coffee whilst still warm.
They may not be the most sartorial cupcakes, the most imaginative or creative cupcakes. But these Love Cupcakes were made with love and given with love, and that is what Valentine’s is all about.
I was sent the items mentioned for the purposes of writing this post and the chance to win a wonderful Valentine’s Prize from Renshaw.
And you can win too. Renshaw are offering 2 great prizes for you to win:
Winner:
£50 voucher to spend on renshawbaking.com
Runner Up Prize:
Our colourful range of icing multi-packs, including:
500g Primary Colour Multi-Pack
500g Neon Multi-Pack
500g Naturals Multi-Pack
All you need to do is fill in the Rafflecopter form. Click the link below.
I’m attempting a heart-shaped lemon meringue pie with the new springform tin I bought.
Buttermilk pancakes with bacon and syrup
some yummy brownies
a cheesecake
Kids farm cupcakes
self saucing chocolate cake!
I’ll be making a red velvet cake as it is hubby’s favourite.
Heart shaped chocolate cake with red butter icing!!!!
Chocolate slab cake
Rocky Road cakes!!!
Kel Ellen Hirst x
Hubbie is better at baking, so hoping he makes me one of his big signature chocolate cakes! x
I will be making a heart shaped victoria sponge topped with fresh cream and strawberries
love heart brownies
wow i love the cupcakes, i will be hopefully be making cupcakes
cupcakes – lots and lots of cupcakes!
I’ve no time this year but i’ll get baking next week instead
Chocolate and peanut butter brownies with Icecream x
I will be making gluten free pancakes.
chocolate brownie cake
A chocolate cake.
Marshmallow cupcakes
Red velvet cupcakes!
Strawberry dessert cake
I will be making the hubster his favourite strawberry cheesecake set in love heart moulds!
Something savoury … 🙂
Some heart-shaped cookies
carrot cake
I will be baking chocolate cake in a shape of heart x
fairy cakes with my son
Apple Heart cake
Coffee Cake, make one every year without fail as its my husbands (and my 6 year old daughters) favourite cake. Daddy was not happy when she developed a taste for it and he now has to share!
fab giveway look yummy x
Cookies 🙂
I’d like to make some heart shaped cookies 🙂
I will be making chcoolate and raspberry mousse! MMMM
me and and my son are baking cookies xx
They Look great, Me & my children will be baking chocolate cookies & a victoria sponge covered in strawberries x
Heart shaped cup cakes – mainly for the kids though 🙂
Almond & Orange Cake
These look great a fab addition to any kitchen, I will be making Shortbread hearts and chocolate Guinness cake
I’m going to make my son a wonderful massive cake because he broke up with his gf and she’s being very cruel to him – he deserves a good pampering x
Ill be mostly trying to bake brownies, the kids love them.
Chocolate cupcakes
I’ll be baking my hubby a blackforest gateaux with lots of cream and cherries – his favourite!
chocolate cake for hubby 🙂
I will be baking iced sugar cookies and an assortment of candy
A heart-shaped chocolate cake
I’ll be making some chocolate cupcakes
Going to be baking cinnamon rolls!
Love heart cookies and cupcakes
Shhhh dont tell but i’m not baking instead I am going for shop bought cakes
Heart shaped cookies, with red and white icing!
Carrot cake!!
Love cupcakes of course!
Being single I will be eating a tub of ice cream and sobbing watching Bridget Jones’ Diary. Joking! Am babysitting so me and the kids are making white chocolate and cranberry cookies 🙂
A chocolate fudge cake
I would be baking chocolate cake!
Coffee cake, my partners favourite 🙂
Heart shaped cookies
a chocolate heart cake
Chocolate cupcakes.
I fancy peanut butter cheesecake.
A yummy chocolate cake
Chocolate brownies and some cupcakes
I’m just going to be baking a fruit cake and maybe the kids will make some cupcakes x
red velvet cake
I will be baking some love heart flapjacks dipped in chocolate 🙂
Chocolate cake
I’m not sure as we are so busy this week, may attempt to make some cupcakes x
heart shaped cookies
Hoping hubby is going to take me out ! But will probably make some chocolate cup cakes with my daughters
Chocolate cake with fondant icing.
We will be making apple muffins
shortbread biscuits I think, and I wil try to make them into pretty shapes
Chocolate Brownies
red velvet cake
i’m making a chocolate brownie cake
This looks fab. I’m going to make a red velvet cake. I bake quite a lot so I’m amazed I’ve never attempted this before.
One of my minion cakes
chocolate heart cake
Chocolate cupcakes with toppings decided by my daughter.
I want to try red velvet cup cakes
fairy cakes with the kids
I’ll be making matcha ganache filled white chocolate hearts!
I’ll be baking cupcakes!
cup cakes
Chocolate cake!
They look stunning. I’ll be attempting a chocolate & orange cake for valentine’s.
I’m thinking chocolate cupcakes topped with white chocolate hearts 🙂
my boyfriend’s favourite – bakewell & shortbread slices
I’m going to be making a sachertorte 🙂
they look too good to eat x yummy
I will be making sticky toffee pudding for the first time!
Melt in the middle chocolate puddings.
Cupcakes!
Chocolate fudge cake is what I’ll be baking
aww they look great!! lucky you x
I will be baking some love heart cupcakes Yum
a red velvet cake
They look amazing, so colourful. The icing is a great idea too, anything to keep the washing up down 🙂