Marbled Heart Cupcakes

Since starting this blog, I’ve had many ideas of cakes to bake and dishes to try, more than what I can manage with a full-time job. But as I was going through my cupboards, I came across a packet of Dr. Oetker milk and white chocolate hearts and with Valentine’s Day I knew just the type of cupcakes I wanted to try.

I’d never made marbled cupcakes before. A marbled sponge and marbled icing seemed as though it would take a lot of time and as I made these last Sunday between brunch, taking Oli to the train station and sitting down to watch Dancing on Ice, time was not on my side.

The sponge recipe was adapted from one I had seen on the Tesco website as it was quicker than most and with a similar approach to the icing, my cupcakes took almost no time at all. The fiddly bit was positioning the hearts, but I think they turned out quite nicely.

So, if you’ve got someone special who you would like to give a sweet heart cupcake to then the recipe is below. Happy Baking and Happy Valentine’s Day however and whoever you choose to spend it with!

Marbled Heart Cupcakes, Makes 12
Ingredients for the cupcakes:
150g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
175g self-raising flour
3 medium eggs
3 level tablespoons of cocoa powder
Ingredients for the buttercream icing:
52g butter
105g icing sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of cocoa powder.
How to…
Pre heat the oven to 180°C/170°C if using a fan assisted oven and line a 12 hole muffin tin with your chosen cupcake cases.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add the flour and eggs and mix until combined.
Split the mixture between two bowls and then add the cocoa powder to one of the bowls and mix until combined.
Spoon a dollop of each cake mixture into each cupcake case and then use a skewer or teaspoon handle to mix the cake mixtures.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream icing, cream the butter and icing sugar together.
Add the vanilla extract and divide the mixture between two bowls.
Add cocoa powder to one bowl and mix until combined.
Spoon the mixtures into a piping bag fitted with the nozzle of your choice and pipe icing onto each cupcake. Top each one with 2 chocolate hearts, 1 milk and 1 white.