Julie Clark
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Strawberry Valentine Cake
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Serve your loved ones this easy-to-decorate strawberry valentine cake. Vanilla buttercream frosted strawberry cake with mini cupcakes, pink candy hearts and sprinkles.
Hi! Kinslee here! Today I’m going to be showing you our strawberry valentine cake! It’s very decorative for a cake. You know, I’m only ten and I love to decorate cakes! I lie in bed at night coming up with cool ideas for cakes! Brace yourselves, ’cause I‘m on a roll!
This valentine cake is pretty pink, frosted with vanilla buttercream icing, and topped off with some cute mini cupcakes! When we made this recipe, we used a strawberry box mix, but we made it with an additional extender recipe. What is an extender recipe? It’s where you add some additional ingredients like flour and also sugar to make a boxed cake mix taste like a homemade cake recipe. It also gives you more batter to work with.  For this recipe, you’re definitely going to need more batter because you’ll make 2 8″ round cakes and mini cupcakes. 
You are going to need twelve mini cupcakes to surround this 8″ pan. For the cupcakes, you are going to put buttercream frosting on with a decorating bag and a Wilton 1M tip.
To make the hearts, just melt pink Wilton Candy Melts in the microwave at 30 second intervals until it is smooth and creamy. Pour the melted candy into a disposable frosting bag. Use a #3 tip to squeeze out little hearts onto wax paper. These will set very quickly!
Once the hearts are set, gently push a heart into the little mounds of frosting on the mini cupcakes.
After the mini cupcakes are done, frost the cake with vanilla buttercream (between the layers and all over the outside), then immediately sprinkle Valentine’s Day sprinkles on the top of the valentine cake.
Then take the mini cupcakes and press them around the outside edge of the cake. You’ll want to do this right away before the frosting crusts over.
Use the Wilton 1M tip again to make large stars around the bottom edge of the cake. If you’d like, you can add more sprinkles down on that frosting, too!
This tall, thick cake is perfect to serve at a Valentine’s Day party or you can keep it just for you! You may also love our Valentine’s Day cupcakes.
Strawberry Valentine Cake
Serve your loved ones this easy-to-decorate strawberry valentine cake. Vanilla buttercream frosted strawberry cake with mini cupcakes, pink candy hearts and sprinkles.
Servings 15 servings
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 box Duncan Hines strawberry supreme cake mix
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
- 1 1/2 cups butter softened
- 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 6-8 tablespoons milk
- Pink Wilton candy melts and Valentine's Day sprinkles (Optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a stand mixer, mix together the dry cake mix, flour, sugar and baking soda. Add the water, oil, vanilla. Then add one egg at a time, mixing the batter between each egg addition. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes until the batter is smooth.
- Line a mini muffin pan with 12 mini cupcake liners. Fill these cupcake liners 2/3 full with cake batter. Bake for 11-12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While the mini cupcakes are baking, grease and flour 2 8" cake pans.
- Divide the remaining batter between the two cake pans.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes come out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes, then invert them to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the candy hearts:
- Melt 1 cup of pink Wilton candy melts according to the package directions. (About 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between and being careful to get the candy completely melted, but not so hot that it burns.)
- Spoon the melted candy into a frosting bag with a size 3 tip. Squeeze the bag to draw small 1 to 1 1/2" hearts on wax paper. You'll need 12, but you may want to make an extra couple hearts in case one breaks.
- Allow the hearts to set.
For the frosting:
- In a stand mixer bowl with the mixer on medium speed, whip the butter for 2-3 minutes until it is almost white in color. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and 6 tablespoons milk. Beat on low speed for 3-5 minutes, adding in the last tablespoon or two of milk if the buttercream needs to be thinner in order to spread easily.
- Spoon frosting into a cake decorating bag with a 1M tip. Make small swirls on the cooled mini cupcakes.
- Gently press one of the candy hearts into each of the frosted mini cupcakes.
To put the cake together:
- Place one cake layer down on a cake plate. Frost the top of that cake layer.
- Place the second cake layer on top of the first.
- Frost the outside of the cake, on the tops and sides. Make frosting as smooth and as even/flat as possible.
- Sprinkle Valentine's Day sprinkles on the top of the cake.
- Gently press a mini cupcake around the outside edge of the cake.
- Use a decorating bag and Wilton tip 1M to pipe large stars around the bottom outer edge of the cake.
- Sprinkle more sprinkles on the bottom border, if desired.
Nutrition
Serving: 165g | Calories: 620kcal | Fat: 31g
THIS CAKE IS AWESOME! NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT TO PUT TINY CUPCAKES ON TOP , TWO THUMBS UP
Love it!
This is a great BIG cake . You could serve the little cupcakes to the kids and slice the cake up for the adults. (at a party)
This is such a cute idea. Good job Kinslee.
Thank you for sharing this delicious cake, with all the extra details. It sure makes it special for Valentines or anytime.
Wow! This cake looks too beautiful to eat! So many fun details to look at! Thanks for sharing!
This is just gorgeous!! Woah! I love those tiny cupcakes on top!!
This cake is SO CUTE! I love those mini cupcakes on top!!
What a beautiful cake!! So much attention to detail…the hearts and cupcakes are a lovely addition to this decadent dessert. A perfect surprise for Valentine’s Day! xo, Catherine