Since it's Valentine's Day, a day that as a chronically single person I pretty much desipse, and I have a lull before the spring and summer birthdays kick into gear, I decided to make cupcakes for work. Using one of my most popular cakes, the strawberry ganache with white chocolate mousse as inspiration, the cupcakes I made were strawberry with a heart-shaped brownie baked inside. I started with the brownies and cheated a little bit in the baking as I do with both brownies and this recipe; I used box mixes. I know, gasp.
The brownies were actually a little tricky. Knowing they would be baked twice I wanted to make sure that they were a little under-baked; but they couldn't be too underbaked or I'd never get them to cooperate and be heart-shaped. I also discovered that under-done brownies are not only yummy to eat, they're also fantastically pliable. Using a small heart-shaped cookie cutter, I cut the brownies until only the extra bits were left in the pan. Not wanting to waste anything, I smooshed up the extra bits and smashed them into the cookie cutter. Viola! Heart-shaped brownies.
To fill the cupcakes, I spooned a small amount of cake batter into the papers then put in the brownies, and covered them carefully with additional cake batter. My first batch I used too much cake so they overflowed a little. And then the next batch didn't quite cover the brownies.
For decoration I bought some "red" candy melts (which were more of a salmon when melted) and made candy hearts. I think they turned out pretty cute myself. So I took a lot of pictures.
And then there was nothing left to do but frost the cupcakes with the white chocolate mousse, add a candy heart, and enjoy!
