Valentines day cupcake

Love Bug Cupcakes

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Ruthanne

*These cute little bugs are filled with berry cream and jam. They sit on top of a dense, not-too-sweet brownie base, and are the *perfect* treat for your Valentine!*

I feel like I am always on the lookout for something creative to make for Valentine’s Day. January is such a blah, grey month, and I miss having something to celebrate with colors and sprinkles. And along comes Valentine’s Day! Even as a single person (for WAY to many years!) I celebrated the day- just because you need SOMETHING in February to make you smile. In fact, if you are single and these love bugs make you want to roll your eyes, try my cute Frog Prince Oreo Pops instead! 🙂

These treats are a little on the fussy side. Obviously. Anything cute requires a little time. If you want a simple, delicious dessert- without the fuss- you can just pipe some topping on, add some sprinkles, and call it a day.

Want to know how to make these fun treats? Here is the recipe: (printable version)

Ingredients: (makes 24 love bug cupcakes)

Love Bugs: (make these 1st)- you will need a silicone chocolate bomb mold to make these:

5 cups powdered sugar
8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) melted butter
2 teaspoons strawberry or raspberry extract
1 cup of raspberry jam
Food color in pink
One bag of Wilton’s Candy melts in pink
About 1/2 cup of Wilton’s Candy melts in black
48 candy eyes
Candy heart sprinkles

Brownie cups:

1 cup butter
2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Chocolate Glaze:

6oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter (do not substitute margarine here!)
Green jimmies for grass!

DIRECTIONS:

Berry Love Bugs:

Melt pink candy melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Use a clean paint brush to brush melts into a chocolate bomb mold and freeze for a couple minutes until hard.
Make berry filling by adding melted butter to sugar and extract.
Mix well, using water to bring it to a thick but spreadable consistency.
Add pink food coloring to make it a fun pink color.
Place filling into a large zip-top bag and seal tightly.
Cut a corner off bag and pipe berry filling into each pink shell- filling them about 1/4 full.
Place jam into a small zip-top bag, clip corner and pipe a little bit in the center of each pink shell.
Pipe more berry filling over the top until it is level .
Use a knife to spread berry filling to edges of shell.
Refreeze these for a few minutes before gently popping them out and setting them on a plate.
Repeat this process until you have 24 berry bombs ready.

Brownie cups:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream butter and sugar together.
Beat in eggs, cocoa, vanilla and salt.
Add flour and milk (alternating them and mixing well in between)
Spoon evenly into 24 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin.
Bake at 350F degrees for 15-18 minutes (don’t over bake- they will start to pull away from the liner)
Cool.

Chocolate Glaze:

Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth.
Set aside until cupcakes are ready to assemble.
Assemble the cupcakes by spooning a little chocolate glaze on top of a brownie and spreading to all edges.
Place a berry bomb in the center and sprinkle green jimmies around edge.
Allow this all to harden up (refrigerate to speed process up).
Melt black candy melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Use a clean paint brush to paint a black face on the front of each bomb, and immediately place eyes before candy melts harden. Place the rest of the melts in a plastic zip-top bag, cut a corner and pipe the center line down the bug’s back.
Melt just a few pink candy melts, and use a paint brush to stick each little candy heart “dot” in place.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are delicious. Think chocolate covered strawberries. I made half of mine with the love bug domes, and half with just the berry icing and chocolate glaze- just to save time. Either way, they are delicious and sure to make YOUR Valentine smile! Enjoy! ~r

Looking for other fun baking ideas for Valentine’s Day? Click on the title to see the recipe:

Berry Bomb Cupcakes

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Ruthanne

These delicious cupcakes are topped with a dome of raspberry cream and a touch of black raspberry jam- a perfectly pink Valentine’s Day treat!

I love berries over vanilla cake- it reminds me of summer and makes me smile. I got a little creative with the presentation, but I think that makes them just perfect as a Valentine– don’t you?

These are incredibly delicious and fun to make. They use a fun (and inexpensive) silicone mold that I got here and have used before on my Peanut Butter Bomb Brownies. I just love how beautiful the dome of white chocolate looks atop these cupcakes! There are so many possibilities for fillings….!

Want to know how we made these cute little desserts? Here you go: (Printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed white cake mix (with water, oil and eggs to make according to package)
1 large jar of black raspberry preserves
1 can of strawberry frosting
2 packets of Dream Whip
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon of raspberry extract
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
Pink food color gel (to desired shade)
2 bags of Wiltons candy melts in bright white.

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package and divide into 24-28 cupcake liners placed in a muffin tin. Fill only about 1/2 full so that they bake up flat and not mounded up and over edges. Bake according to package.
Make Berry Bomb filling by combining Dream Whip, milk, extract, and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl and blending together with mixer until stiff peaks form. Add coloring to desired shade of pink.
Melt Wiltons candy melts and use a brush to “paint” the melts into the inside of the silicone mold. Do two layers and then freeze until hard (5 minutes).
Place filling into a large zip-top bag and clip a corner. Pipe filling into hardened cups- about 3/4 full- and then top with a little jam.
Use a knife to spread jam flat and freeze another 5-10 minutes.
Carefully remove berry bombs from mold and place, round side down and sticky jam side up, on a wax-papered plate. Keep these cool until all bombs are made.

Open strawberry frosting and warm in the microwave for about 15 seconds- just until it softens a bit when stirred,
Spoon frosting over tops of cupcakes, allowing it to spread to edges.
Gently set a bomb on top of cupcake, pressing it into the soft frosting (I used wax paper to touch chocolate to prevent fingerprints)
Allow frosting to firm up and hold the bomb in place.
Drizzle with a little red or pink melted candy melts if desired. Keep refrigerated until serving.
Enjoy!!!!!!!

My thoughts: These are a fun and refreshing twist on a berry-topped cupcake. The bombs take a little time to make- since you have to to do them in batches of 6. I recommend you start making them when you start the cupcakes. You can be in and out of the freezer while you are baking and save a little time. My other thought- serve these with a fork!!! When you bite into them and that white candy shell breaks it is too much to hold onto. I promise. Use forks 🙂 I hope you enjoy making and eating these as much as I did!! ~r