Valentine | Homemaker Chic

Valentine’s day is just around the corner and if you’re looking for a fabulous and delicious dessert, then I’ve got one for you! What’s more romantic than Champagne and Strawberries… how about cupcakes? Throw it all together and you’ve got one sweet treat for your honey. You’re going to L-O-V-E this recipe.

pink_champagne_cupcakes

Now I’m not a big fan of boxed cake mixes because of the ridiculous amount of junk they pile into those boxes. But I was in a bind today and needed to get these cupcakes made quickly. I happened to have a boxed cake on hand and this is a great way to doctor up a mix. You can also use this in a home made mix just replacing the liquid called for with Champagne. The good news is that the recipe only calls for one cup of champagne, so someone is going to have to help you drink the rest of that bottle. 😉

Here’s what you need:

One vanilla cake mix

1 Cup Pink Champagne (or sparkling wine, or you could totally use Sprite or Fresca for this if you don’t want the booze, don’t worry though, the alcohol does get cooked out.)

1/3 Cup Cream

1/3 Cup Melted Butter

3 eggs

1/2 cup strawberry jam

For the Frosting:

2 sticks of butter

4 cups of confectioner’s sugar

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

1 T Pink Champagne

2 t Clear Vanilla Extract

¼ cup Strawberry Jam

Here’s what you do:

strawberry_champagne_cupcakes

Combine the mix, champagne, cream, eggs, and butter. The Champagne will fizz up and the batter will sort of expand, just be prepared for that. I added a bit of pink rose food coloring to my batter just to give a soft pink color to the cakes. Just a touch of pink. Generally one mix will yield about 24 cupcakes. This mix yielded 18 regular sized cupcakes and 24 mini cupcakes for me. So I’m thinking that the Champagne really makes the batter go a little further. It does

not, however, affect the rising of the cake so fill your cups the normal 2/3 full. Drop about a teaspoon of strawberry jam in the center of each cupcake. Use the spoon to push the jam down a little bit into the batter. Bake for about 20 minutes on 350.

For the frosting:

In a large bowl cream the butter and the vanilla. Slowly add in the cream and champagne. The cream will get whipped and this w

ill give you a light and fluffy frosting. Add the jam and mix. Start adding the sugar one half cup at a time. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.

champagne-cupcake

I made this rose design using a 1M tip, starting at the center of each cupcake and piping a circle moving outward. It so easy, but very elegant. You also don’t even up with too much frosting on the cupcakes. Its the perfect amount. I hope you all enjoy this light and delicious treat! Happy Valentine’s Day! I love you all!

Vegan Strawberry Rosé Valentine Cupcakes (thebakingbird.com)

Well Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and with it comes heart shaped EVERYTHING. What is it about heart shaped foods on Valentine’s day that makes people feel like they’re in some way showing extra love for somebody? My hubby and I aren’t big on Valentine’s day because we make an effort to show love for one another every single day of the year! This being said, heart shaped foods are super adorable and make me giggle. Here are some really cute ideas for heart shaped foods for Valentine’s day and EVERY day! Don’t forget to tell someone today that you love them too. 🙂 (Click the images for original posts.)

BREAKFAST:

What goes better with heart shaped eggs than heart shaped BACON! Cutest bacon I’ve ever seen. Source: The Paper Mama

You can’t forget about heart shaped pancakes! Here’s one way to do it. Make two different colored pancakes, cut hearts out of each, then swap the hearts for a contrasting color. Cute idea. Source: Gatorade Military

Here’s the other way to do it. Just pour the batter in the shape of a heart. If you have a large heart shaped cookie cutter, you could also set that in the hot pan, and pour the batter into it to get a perfect heart shape. Source: Martha Stewart

Here’s a nice collection of various sized heart cutters. About $10. Click Image to BUY NOW.

LUNCH:

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup always makes me happy. The only way it could make me happier is with heart shaped sandwiches! How about floating a few heart shaped cheddar cheese slices in soup. Delish!

Why stop at grilled cheese? You can get super creative in the heart shaped panini department! Do I hear turkey and cranberry? Just make a regular panini and cut it out with a heart shaped cutter.

What else would you serve with your heart shaped sandwiches than… Heart Shaped fries? Seriously, this is getting out of hand. How cute are these? All you do is slice potatoes, and cute out heart shapes, then fry and top with salt. Clever indeed.

Or perhaps you’re in the mood for a warm hearty soup… with heart shaped carrots. Talk about comfort food. If someone made this for me I would totally believe they loved me.

Grape Tomato Hearts. Cutest. Tomatoes. Ever!! Just slice the tomatoes in half and flip one side over, then stick an arrow toothpick through them. Gluing a little piece of paper to the ends of toothpicks seems easy enough. How sweet!

SNACKS:

These pretzels are made out of canned dinner rolls! You roll out two rolls into a rope and then twist them into shape.

Here’s an adorable little snack of heart shaped corn tortilla chips and salsa. Wouldn’t this be great if you used flour tortillas instead, topped them with cinnamon and sugar, and served with a hot apple chutney? Yum!

Talk about heart healthy! Heart shaped fruit, with yogurt dip. This snack is simple, sweet, healthy, and adorable!

DINNER:

Heart Shaped Pizza, with heart shaped pepperonis! My husband would be so happy if I served this up. Make it a white pizza for a prettier look. Sliced ham in heart shapes would add a pretty pink color to the pie.

I’m imagining a scene from the Sex and the City movie involving sushi and Valentine’s day. 🙂 Maybe Samantha would have had better results if she had made these precious heart shaped rolls!

These heart shaped saffron buns would be a delicious complement to a valentine’s night dinner.

Heart Shaped Chicken Parmesan with fresh heart shaped mozzarella topped with marinara sounds delectable for a Valentine’s Night feast!

DESSERT:

Charming little pear raspberry hand pies. Source: Martha Stewart

Making a heart shaped cake doesn’t require a heart shaped pan. All you need is one square pan and one round pan. Set the square cake on a diagonal. Cut the round cake in half, then put each half on one side to make the rounded top. So easy!

Sweetie pie pops would be the perfect little bite after a lovely Valentine’s dinner. They are sweet, light, and the sky is the limit with fillings. Check out full instructions by clicking the image above. Source: Our Best Bite

This Valentine’s day maybe you might get to make some whoopie… pies that is. 😉 Try these red velvet whoopie pies with cream cheese frosting. Mmmmm!

Make your honey happy with these Honey Green Tea Sandwich Cookies. So good, and good for you! Plus, aren’t we tired of pink and red for Valentine’s day?