So, yesterday I had one of my usual Pinterest Flops…

…and even though I was able to save the mess and create something cute, it has been irking me ever since!  I just had to know if this baking trick with the marble really worked!  So, after a long day of thought (or rather, a day of trying to come up with reasons why I needed another 2 dozen cupcakes up in this house) I grabbed the KitchenAid and got to it!

My super-cute baking buddy wanted to make “chocolate cupcakes with red frosting on the top and no sprinkly things“, but alas my expensive butter-recipe mixes had expired…..in early 2011!   So, we chose spice cake instead.  Sort of Valentine-y, no?  😀

 

So, here’s a simple trick to making heart-shaped cupcakes!  These are fun for Valentine’s Day, of course, but would also be sweet for an anniversary, shower, or other sweetheart occasion!

• Prepare your favorite cake recipe and line the muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
• Fill the paper liners a little less than 1/2 full.  This is the trick! (and where I flopped yesterday)  The cupcake batter needs enough room to rise but not to spill or poof over the ridge of the paper liner.
• Once all of the cups are filled, gently tuck a clean glass marble in between the paper liner and the muffin tin – making sure the marble is all the way at the bottom.
• Adjust the paper liners a bit by pulling them up so the cupcake batter is settled and upright.
• Bake according to recipe.
• Then gently pull the cupcakes from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
• If the batter has not spilled over and baked onto the marble, the marble should just fall away when you take the cupcakes out.  Be careful though!  The marbles will be super hot!
• Frost and decorate as desired!

And there you have it!  The marble in the pan trick does indeed work!  A word of warning if I may, ahem:  since you are only filling the paper liners about 1/2 way full, this will yield a TON of cupcakes!  I got nearly 40 cupcakes out of one box of cake mix!   Make sure you have a “plan” for these things before you make them!  😉