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Cupid’s Arrow Cupcakes

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I was in the mood to make some red velvet cupcakes this weekend. Red velvet cake is so pretty on it’s own, you really don’t need to do much to decorate it. A luscious cream cheese frosting works just fine most of the time.

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But since Valentine’s Day is coming up soon, I wanted to do something simple and fun for the occasion.

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So I made some cute cupid’s arrows to adorn them.

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To make these love struck cupcakes, you just need to insert a 6-inch lollipop stick through the top part of the cupcake papers.

You can use a toothpick to pierce through the paper on each side to make it easier to push the stick through. Hold the paper on each side as you push the stick through so the paper doesn’t separate from the cupcake.

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Then you can cut out sweet little hearts to attach to each end.

Actually, cut out the hearts ahead of time so you’re prepared.

Attach the small heart to one end with a small piece of tape and cut two slits through the larger heart to allow the stick to slide through.

Cut along the white lines on the larger heart for a more feathery look. I decided not to because I thought they looked cleaner this way.

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Here’s a pdf if you want to download the ones I made. There’s a pink and a red version of the hearts in the pdf.

Or if you are more prepared, you can look for two different size heart paper punches and some pink or red heavyweight paper and save a lot of cutting time.

Obviously, I wasn’t prepared.

But in a pinch, these hearts work great, too.

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To decorate the cupcakes, I used an Ateco Tip #807 to swirl on a mountain of creamy cream cheese frosting.

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Yum.

Mini Heart Sprinkles

And then I sprinkled a few of these tee-niny heart sprinkles right on top.

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Perty!

But if you want to make them even easier, you can simply insert the arrow straight down through the frosting and into the cake below.

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You can turn them into bleeding heart cupcakes, too. So easy!

Just attach a few hearts sprinkles upside down onto the frosting.

I used jumbo, regular and miniature heart sprinkles.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Yield: two dozen cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Additional Time 20 minutes
Total Time 58 minutes

Ingredients

Red Velvet Cupcakes

  • 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup oil
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 Tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1-2 oz. red food coloring

Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 6 cups confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

  1. For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line trays with cupcake papers.
  2. Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended. Set aside.
  3. Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together with another wire whisk.
  4. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.
  5. Pour into cupcake pans and drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
  6. Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  7. For the frosting: Sift sugar and set aside. Beat cream cheese and butter on high until creamy. Add vanilla. Then, add the sugar in batches. Scrape down the sides in between each addition. And frost away.
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Either way you want to decorate, enjoy!

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oh… and eat your heart out.

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143 comments on “Cupid’s Arrow Cupcakes”

  1. How did you get the frosting so white? When I made these the butter turned the frosting an off white. Of course mine weren’t nearly as cute! But I love how easy and doable most of your posts are!

  2. About to make these for a valentines party with my friends! Can’t wait to try it out! x

  3. Those are really cute! I love them!

  4. Thank you for this excellent recipe. I made these cupcakes a few days ago for my birthday party. I left out the heart decoration and instead topped each one with a raspberry. They tasted excellent. Really moist. Everyone loved them!

  5. I am in love with that frosting. You rock bakerella:-)

  6. These are gorgeous, what a cute and creative decoration.I’ve featured this recipe on my blog, hoping that you don’t mind, but if you do, please contact me and I’ll remove it. All the best.

  7. By Golly I think I got it…Bakerella never fails me!!!! I should have came here FIRST!!!!

    THANK YOU

  8. Mmm, this just look so great that i have to try them out. A bit hard to understand al the ingrediens since i’m from sweden. Thank god for google translate=) Lets bake away^^

  9. We love this recipe! My daughter (16 yr old) has actually made red, blue and purple versions of these. She’s in charge of cupcakes. She doesn’t realize how easy the frosting is as well, but thats my assignment. Betwen the two of us, we make awesome cupcakes.

  10. Made these lovely cupcakes last week and they were absolutely delicious! My family enjoyed it. I don’t have to buy (often overpriced) red velvet cupcakes now that I can make my own with this great recipe. ;) You’re amazing. Thank you so much Bakerella. You’re my baking inspiration!

  11. Love, love, love your website and cooking tips…..Looking forward to start baking again…….

  12. I’ve never tried red velvet cakes, either to eat or to make, and am slightly cautious about the amount of food dye required for a batch of the batter.
    I’m curious, can you tell me if the food dye changes the texture of the cake at all? Given that food dyes are (generally) tasteless, I presume it doesn’t change the taste.
    I’m asking here because as an Aussie, I don’t have many friends who have made red velvet cake.

  13. I made the green velvet version of these over the weekend for St. Patty’s day and they were absolutely adorable! Mine did turn out a little dry and chewy. Any idea how I might remedy that?

  14. I made these today and they turned out so perfect! Happy Valentine’s Day to me!

  15. Hey guys,
    i JUST made these. Followed all the directions exactly and they turned out PERFECTLY. if you let the cupcakes cool and they’re cooked properly then THE STICKS STAY WHITE!! Thanks bakerella! Happy Valentines Day!

  16. What kind of oil would you recommend using? Olive or vegetable?

  17. I just made these and they are too cute! thanks for the idea!

  18. These are too cute! Very creative with the arrows. I needed some fun inspiration for Valentine Day goodies and these will for sure be on the list!

  19. Thank you for this amazing idea! And thank you for the PDF download so we can make them exactly as pretty as they are meant to be. You are awesome, Bakerella! You put a smile on my face every time I come here. :)

  20. Hi, I tried making them but my question is when I made the cream cheese frosting it did not hold on the cupcakes like the one u did, especially when I used the big tip? Can u help me

  21. I am looking forward to using this recipe next week for my sister’s baby shower. I was wondering how to store them once the cream cheese frosting is on them. Do they have to be put in the fridge or can I make the night before the shower and I am okay?

  22. These are just DIVINE!! Red Velvet are my ALL time favourite!! You make the frosting look SO easy…

  23. Hi!
    I’ve been stalking your website for a while now.
    And I must say your blog is so amazing! I tried the cake pops and my friends liked it. :) Thank you!!

    Also, a while ago I tried baking carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frost.. but I don’t think I got it right. I got the recipe from somewhere else and the cupcake turned out not-so-soft. :(

    I might try your recipe next week. :)

  24. i just love them!!! ur just perfectly amazing !!! cant wait for ur other recipes

  25. This is amazing, I made some today and love it. first time i made some red velvet cupcake.

  26. These are GENIUS!!! and so easy to make.

  27. I should have known these were yours, Angie! I saw these on Pinterest and thought the were so clever and so pretty! Thumbs up for another amazing idea! Thanks for the printable too! My students and I will use these for sure! xo

  28. Thanks to your lead, my husband and I are going to be making red velvet cupcakes for our loved ones on Valentine’s Day too, with cream cheese frosting. As an added sweet treat, we are going to make dipped strawberries in white and red chocolate and add one on top of each cupcake. :D I think both together will really scream Valentine’s Day for everyone, and add a little extra decadence, which I am so willing to take advantage of. ;)
    Love to you, Bakerella

  29. i’m completely in love with these cupcakes! They look amazing!

  30. love love love red velvet cake, I tryed it for the first time last december and I have fallen in love with it! I have to try this lovely cupcakes!

  31. You never fail to amaze me! How cute are these!!!

  32. bakerella, i’d like you to know that i was on youtube looking at cake pop videos, and i noticed a video called bake pops – the easiest way to make cake pops, and their decorations were THE SAME as yours. for example there were your lions, your baby chicks, bees, pigs, ice cream cone pops, your jac-o-lanterns, mummys, CUPCAKES, rudophs, etc. based on what I read in your FAQ, i think that you should know about this video.

    P.S. i love your blog!

  33. I made these tonight and I think that I must have made some mistakes. Baking is new to me though. Not sure what kind of vinegar and oil to use so I used vegetable and apple cider (it was the only vinegar I had that wasn’t balsamic/wine.) Also, I guess I need to make sure that I use regular white sugar and not the turbinado sugar (which has worked in other cupcake recipes but they had a very wet batter.) The sugar didn’t dissolve so it made the tops of the cupcakes hard and crispy. Next time I hope these adjustments make a difference. Any suggestions of tips from anyone are appreciated.

  34. to pretty to eat!

    I linked to your recipe on my blog – thanks for sharing!

    doro K.

  35. I love these. They are so adorable and easy too. My fav is the bleeding heart.

  36. Jenny sent me. Your photos are beautiful. I had to quickly read your 2011 story. You are now a role model for me – how to approach your dreams while dealing with some major issues.
    Looking forward to reading more and trying some recipes.

  37. Oh! These are adorable. Cute cute cute.

  38. Very creative. Always get the best inspiration from you.

  39. This reminds me yet again, that I seriously need to attempt making my own red velvet cake.
    As always: beautiful! You have such a wonderful blog!
    xoxo
    Anna

  40. These are so simple and adorable, which makes them completely awesome!!! You come up with the cutest ideas!!

  41. omg so cute!! as usual :)

  42. Could these be any cuter?! Thanks for the printable, too! :)

  43. I love the bleeding heart cupcake. The frosting looks so delicious!

  44. Just wanted to let you know that I made these cupcakes for my roommates birthday and they are the BEST red velvet cupcakes I have ever made or eaten. I will never use another recipe again. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!!! I

  45. too cute! need to make these with my girls. :)

  46. Their gorgeous!!!

    I admire your blog, it’s so inspiring. Thank you so much.

  47. I know what I’ll be doing this weekend…so cute I’m sure they taste as good as they look.

  48. Cute & romantic! I’m going to surprise my valentine with these.

  49. kids would love this! I wish there was a way to do red velvet without the red food coloring! i might try this with pom. juice as part of the liquid. love the fun color but not the food dye for my kids.

  50. Can someone add these to Pinterest please! For some reason I can’t upload pins :(

  51. Ahhh bliss! Love these, and will lots of time to get myself organised for Valentine’s Day…

  52. Simply LOVEly, lady! xxx

  53. What a cute idea! I was just browsing St. Valentine’s Day baking goodies today and had fun ideas like this swimming in my head. They look delicious! :)

  54. I just bought the tiny hearts! Now I can make these awesome (as usual) cupcakes :o)

  55. These cupcakes just look delicious. I’m going to make them next week, I think. I don’t think mine will look as scrumptious, but it’s worth a try.

  56. Really, I thought you couldn’t have come up with anything cuter for Valentines day and then you land on these. Leave it to Bakerella! I was going to make the whoopie pies again, but these are hard to beat. Love them!

  57. This was such a great recipe!! Thank you so much for sharing everything with us :)

  58. Those are so adorable and I’m so glad I worked my way through the post to see the bleeding heart ones too. “Pin”ed!

  59. Love the red cupcakes. My mom makes Waldorf Red Cake with home made buttercream icing. It is amazing. It’s even better than the cream cheese frosting.
    Can’t wait to make these with the arrows and heart sprinkles.
    Keep up the amazing things you do .

  60. Yum-a-licious!! This is THE cupcake of choice for me.

  61. i love your red velvet recipe, i’ve tried so many and this one tops them all. i use it all the time! =)
    but i must ask, how do get them to bake so evenly and equal?? they don’t always come out good for me.
    thanks for all the inspiration.

  62. These cupcakes are beautiful! My friend Gail and I are thinking about making cake pops for the farmers market this summer & spring – which us luck. I’m sure we’ll be visiting this page for inspiration lots in the next few months!

  63. Have been reading your blog for a long time but first time commenting. How do you come up with all these ideas? Just lovely! Thanks for keeping up this great site — it makes me so happy and inspires my cooking and decorating projects even though I’m not great at baking.

  64. Wonderful recipe. I’ve never made that kind of frosting before, but I’m going to try it this week. Thanks.

  65. I love these cupcakes Angie!! Absolutely adorable .. A must for me to make!! Another ht!! Hugs!

  66. Hola!! Te escribo desde Argentina para comentarte que todas tus cosas son HERMOSAS y cuánto me alegra que seas tan amable de compartirlas. Un cariño grande, y la mejor de las suertes para vos!!

  67. Love this! I made some red velvet cupcakes too. From a box, I cheated. I’ll be trying your recipe next time for sure!

  68. These are by far my favorite cupcakes PLUS my favorite pictures you have taken :D very pretty and a wonderful idea for valentines day! Thank you so much for the brilliant ideas! andddd the PDF :)

  69. I make my favorite sugar cookie recipe, drop in a couple drops of red food coloring, use heart shaped cookie cutters, and bake. When cooled I use pink frosting on top of one, and add another one on top to make a heart shaped sandwich cookie!!!

  70. These are so great! I love the decoration!

  71. I’ve never try the red velvet, but with your own recipe I can’t look forward…

  72. These are adorable. I want to make them for my daughter’s class party. Thanks for the idea and the tutorial.

  73. I have been thinking about Red Velvet Cupcakes all weekend!

  74. As always Baerlla, too cute, and looks delicious too!

  75. i love it!!

  76. I had wanted to try these out, but i dont want food coloring into it. See, my son is allergic, but he lobes cream cheese. Any ideas on how to color it red?

  77. Oh my – these are adorable! What great Valentine’s Day inspiration :)

  78. I love the way these look; so cute and delicious!

  79. LOVE!

  80. How darling :D-not a red velvet fan, I just like the cream cheese frosting-i’d eat that by itself O_o

  81. These are so cute! Love the bleeding heart look too!

  82. These are just beautiful! Love that there is variety to the decoration….color of the cupcake & frosting themselves, sprinkles and then the cupcake “pick” that’s actually the arrow.

  83. For those that are concerned about the cupcake crumbs and color getting on the white-white lollipop stick, is there maybe a way that the stick could be cut into two pieces – and the back and front portions of the “arrow” be inserted into the cupcake separately? I’m wondering about the stability of the stick, once it is cut. I also wonder if the two stick pieces for the arrow could be inserted to look as if it is one long piece/arrow. Just thinking outloud here!

  84. Very cute! I love this idea!

  85. these are super cute!! The part that is confusing to me is the part where you stick the stick in the cupcake. Wouldn’t the stick get cupcake on it and not be as white anymore?

  86. I love Valentines day purely because everything is pink and red and heart shaped and so naturally I love Valentine’s treats! These are just adorable!

  87. I am totally copying this idea!!! Pintrest!

  88. Oh my these are adorable. I love the bleeding ones!

  89. ahh these are so simple and adorable! thanks for the heart templates, they are so professional looking! :)

  90. I think these cupcakes are absolutely adorable! Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift with us all! Can you use cupcake batter and bake it in a 9×13 pan life a cake?

  91. By cream cheese, you mean like Philidelphia spreadable cheese? The tubs seem a little small and expensive to use on cupcakes.

  92. Bakerella-these are so cute! But how do you get the lollipop stick clean once it’s through the cupcake? When you push it through the liner, won’t the stick get stained by the cupcake? I can imagine myself doing this and the sticks are all ugly stained on one side-just trying to prevent ugly cupid cupcakes which mine will may well end up looking like. Ha! By the way, you’re printables are FANTASTIC! So much more creative than a circle punch label :) Thank you SOOOOO much! :)

  93. I am very curious about your backgrounds… do you do them in photoshop and/or use colored paper backgrounds? It is always so visually appealing to have those bright, solid colored backgrounds!

  94. Gonna make these for my Valentine’s Banquet for SS CLASS.
    They are so perfect.

  95. Love it – adorable, simple, and easy. Even I could make those! :)

  96. toooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute

  97. oh MY!
    you know, once i did those, but instead of food coloring, i added raspberry extract, which is red, and i didnt look at the label, i just added and added, about 2 oz! then at last, i saw the label when i was cleaning up!
    it was a total riot!
    heh heh!:)

  98. A BBQ skewer would work well too and as its pointy already, no need to poke holes in advance with a toothpick!

  99. These are so cute I can’t stand it. I love red velvet cupcakes!

  100. those look awesome!!! thanks so much!!

  101. So cute, I made red velvet too this weekend, mine were not as cute.

  102. Delicious!! These are really cute!

  103. Adorable! You’re so talented!

  104. i heart red velvet…it kind of completes me!

  105. LOVE! these!

  106. I love these. They are super cute. I need to come up with a good way to make them vegan (or at least egg free), so I can share them at work.

  107. OMG they look too delicious! btw the coloring can be the liquid one?

  108. I was wondering what I would make for my SMOMs (Salisbury Mothers of Multiples) group meeting, Now I know! thanks!!!!

  109. That is such a cute idea! Happy Valentine’s Day!

  110. Love them and have been looking for a good red velvet recipe, making these after work today! Thanks Bakerella!

  111. Cute as always.

  112. These are so beautiful and cute! And how perfect your red velvet cupcakes turned out *_* Now I am all excited for Valentine’s Day which is still 1 month away! :)

  113. Looks divine … thanks for the arrows :) and the recipe!

  114. They are absolutely lovely ! I’ll try to make some someday !

  115. Red velvet is my FAVORITE flavor! I think I will make these for my class on valentine’s day! <3

  116. Thanks, Bakerella. Great idea!

  117. Lovely, arn´t they ?

  118. Super cute ,defiantly going to make yum !

  119. As always, every detail is perfect. I don’t know how you do it. You are an artist. Beautiful and yummy!

  120. i love this post, i bought the saw sprinkles and i will be making these cupcakes for my daughter’s teachers!

  121. These are so simple, yet so cute!

  122. Amazing, They are adorable! Makes me wanna jump in the kitchen right now! <3

  123. I’m in love with your cupcakes. Thanks for sharing.

    Yumm!!

    catarina

  124. Super cute!
    I’ve never made red velvet before so this will be a good chance to when Valentines day rolls around.

  125. So adorable… definitely pinning this… love!

  126. I was waiting for you to do something yummy for Valentines Day. I love these cupcakes. You’re so creative. I’m for sure going to make these.

  127. Very cute! :)

  128. LOVE them! Makes me wanna bake right now ^_^

  129. Those are YUM-AZING! They really are cupid’s arrow cupcakes, because I’ve fallen for them. Absolutely yumtastic, Bakerella! Another recipe to add to my ever-growing to-do list!

  130. Yummers! Thanks for sharing!!!

  131. Gorgeous, simple idea that looks amazing!

  132. Very cute and simple, these look great!

  133. Beautiful, fun, inspiring, and I am certain delicious! Now I want to bake rather than go to sleep :)

  134. Thanks for sharing,xoxo

  135. Simply adorable. You are so wonderfully talented!

    Can’t wait to try my hand at these!

  136. Those are adorable!! I love red velvet cupcakes! They are perfect for Valentines day!! :-)

  137. Bakerella, when you were in seattle, did you try trophy cupcake’s redvelvet?? Is this recipe similar?

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