Bleeding Heart Cupcakes

Posting this recipe was a bit of a debate. On one hand, they're a little too sweet and Yumsugar omitted the baking time (though we've added it below). On the other, they still taste pretty good, and are fun for Valentine's Day.

The cake itself is good and not too sweet, but stuffing it with jelly and topping it all off with frosting makes it go from 0 to 60 in about 30 seconds. Eating more than one might induce diabetic shock, but moderation is key, and at least they look cool - especially if you can fashion the anatomical topping on this post. We suggest a cream cheese or mascarpone frosting to cut some of the sweetness that comes with the jelly, but we've included the original buttercream recipe below.

White Cupcakes
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

20 glass marbles or small balls of tinfoil
2 to 3 cups strawberry jelly or smooth strawberry jam

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.


2. In a separate, larger bowl, cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar, creaming until light and fluffy.


3. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat well after each addition.


4. In a small bowl, combine the milk and vanilla.


5. To the butter mixture, add about one quarter of the flour mixture and mix well. Add about one quarter of the milk mixture and mix well. Continue alternating the flour mixture and milk mixture, beating after each addition until smooth.


6. Line cupcake tins with paper liners. Fill the liners two-thirds full with the batter. Place 1 marble or tinfoil ball between each liner and the tin. This will make a dent in your cupcake when it bakes to make it heart shaped.


7. Bake about 20-25 minutes at 350. If you are using marbles, be careful when removing the cupcakes from the tins because the marbles will be very hot.


8. When the cake is cool, with a small paring knife, cut out a circle about the size of a dime in the center of each cupcake, going about two thirds of the way in. Pull the little plug of cake out. Cut off the top of this piece (about 1/2 inch thick) and eat the bottom. Use a teaspoon or a squeeze bottle to fill the hole partway with the strawberry jelly "blood." Put the little cake plug back in. Continue with the rest of the hearts.

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.


2. Add the powdered sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy.


3. Put one-third of the frosting into two separate bowls. Color one bowl of frosting with the red food coloring. Tint the other bowl of the frosting blue. Tint the remaining two-thirds pink.


4. Frost the cupcakes with the pink frosting. Make it super smooth by dipping a butter or frosting/palette knife in a bowl of hot water and smoothing it over the top. With a pastry bag or a knife, use the red and blue frosting to make veins on the hearts (as you'll see below, we skipped these steps).