Heart cupcakes!? Then make these heart cupcakes, pronto! Sure, they're a ridiculously perfect way to send a little love someone's way on Valentine's Day, but they're also guaranteed to bring cheer any other day of the year too. Moist red velvet cake embraces the heart-shaped vanilla inside just the way it (and everyone else in the world) always wanted to be hugged.  Share this sweet token of affection and send your special someone's heart aflutter!

Note: You can use the technique for these cupcakes with other cake recipes too. If your sweetheart hates red velvet, Valentine's Day, hearts, etc, try a chocolate and vanilla cake with something else cut out in the middle, like Pac-Man! Who's gonna hate on a Pac-Man cupcake?

Red Velvet Cupcakes with a Heart Inside

Yellow Cake

• 1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 1 cup flour, thoroughly sifted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup milk

Red Velvet Cake

• 2 cups flour, thoroughly sifted
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp (1 oz.) red food coloring
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp white distilled vinegar

Directions

1. Make and bake the sheet cake: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment and set aside.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light. Add the vanilla, and then the eggs, one at a time, beating each until fully incorporated before adding the next.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture and milk to the egg mixture in three additions, beginning with the milk and ending with the flour, and alternating with the milk.
4. Transfer batter to prepared pan, and bake until the top of cake springs back when pressed and a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 - 25 minutes. While the cake is baking, get your ingredients for the red velvet cake.
5. Prepare the red velvet batter: Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and salt into a medium bowl.
6. Beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar in a large bowl until well combined.
7. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Set aside.
8. Cut out the sheet cake hearts: Once your sheet cake is done, cut it out into hearts! The hearts should be relatively small, maybe 1 1/2 to 2 inches in width. Set aside.
9. Fill your cupcake tins: Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about 1/4 to 1/2 full. Put the heart into the batter and continue to fill until the liners are about 3/4th of the way full.
10. Bake your cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pop your cupcakes into the oven and bake for about 15 - 18 minutes, or until the red velvet is fully cooked!
11. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Frost as desired.

Just remember that the heart will only display if you remember where in the middle it's aligned and cut it accordingly. Otherwise, when you cut your cupcake, it'll just be a white rectangle!