Valentine's Day: Cupcakes

The best Valentine's Day treats aren't the ones you buy, they're the ones you make! So get ready to bake some homemade Chocolate Raspberry Kiss Cupcakes!

CUPCAKES:
2 cups of white sugar
2 cups of flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1 tsp of vanilla
paper muffin liners
chocolate kisses

RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
1/4 cup of raspberries
5 tablespoons of unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar

TOOLS:
large mixing bowl
saucepan
bowl
whisk
muffin tin
paper liners
scoop or ladel
mixing bowl
egg beater
teaspoon
spatula

REMEMBER THAT IT’S IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS COOK UNDER ADULT SUPERVISION. SOMETIMES WE USE OBJECTS THAT COULD BE HARMFUL, LIKE A KNIFE, SO DON’T EVER ATTEMPT TO DO THESE RECIPES ALONE.

1. Pour your sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to mix it all together. Set the bowl aside.
2. Add your butter, vegetable oil, water, and your cocoa to a sauce pan.
3. Heat this mixture over the stove until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is beginning to bubble around the edges.
4. While that mixture heats up, take out another bowl and crack two large eggs into it. Add your buttermilk and your vanilla to the eggs and whisk it all together. Set that aside.
5. Have an adult helper remove your heated butter mixture from the stove and slowly pour it in with your dry ingredients (the sugar, flour, etc.), whisking it in as you do it. Stir it all together until the mixture is completely smooth.
6. Next, add your buttermilk-egg mixture and slowly stir that together, speeding up as everything combines.
7. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and pour the batter into each liner using a scoop or a ladle.
8. Place a kiss in the center of each cupcake.
9. Then, place them in the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.
10. While your cupcakes are baking, it’s time to make your frosting. Place 5 tablespoons of softened, unsalted butter into a mixing bowl. Start beating it with an egg beater while you add your confectioner’s sugar. Pour in little bit of your pureed raspberries about a teaspoon at a time as you continue to beat. This will give it a pink color.
11. Add the rest of your puree to mixture to keep it from drying out along with the rest of your sugar. Keep beating to mix it together until it’s smooth and spreadable. Set your completed frosting aside while you wait for the cupcakes to finish baking.
12. When the cupcakes are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool for about 15 minutes. Once cooled, take each cupcake out of the pan and spread your frosting onto the top of them using spreader. Use the back of the spreader and turn your hand while you spread to make it even. Add another kiss to the top each frosted cupcake and then you’re ready to serve them to your friends!