Feb. 14--For Valentine's Day a few years ago, I made cupcakes that looked like little Cupids; this involved meticulously covering the top third of each cake with Rice Krispies to look like hair and cutting sticky, hard-to-handle marshmallows to look like wings.
This year, I decided I'd make just the bow and arrow.
After browsing my candy options at two stores, I decided to build the bow out of licorice and mini M The arrow is a mini pretzel rod and a heart-shaped jelly bean, which I found at the specialty candy store below my office. Possible, more commonly found substitutions: gummy hearts or large conversation hearts. Check the Valentine's candy aisle and there will be something sweet and heart-shaped, I promise.
For the cupcake, I used my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe and whipped up some vanilla buttercream frosting out of butter, powered sugar, milk and vanilla; the cotton-candy-pink color comes from gel-concentrate food coloring.
The assembly here is hard to screw up and takes (relatively) little time to execute; even more reason to fall in love.
mconrad@tribpub.com
Twitter @marissa_conrad
Cupid's bow and arrow cupcakes
Prep: 90 minutes
Bake: 16 minutes
Makes: 24 cupcakes
24 cupcakes, made from your favorite recipe
1 batch or 1 can vanilla frosting, dyed pink or your favorite color
24 miniature pretzel sticks
1 large bag (11 ounces) M Minis (if not found in candy aisle, check baking aisle for M Minis Baking Bits; they're the same thing)
1 small bag (6.1 ounces) red licorice laces, such as Twizzlers Pull 'n' Peel
24 heart-shaped jelly beans, or other heart-shaped candy
1. Bake and frost cupcakes, using least amount of frosting possible to cover the cupcakes.
2. Immediately afterward, while frosting is still sticky, place one heart-shaped jelly bean near the rightmost edge of cupcake with the point of the heart facing right. Place mini pretzel stick so it stretches horizontally across the cupcake, touching the jelly bean on one side and hanging off the left side of the cupcake.
3. Cut a piece of licorice lace that's about 2/3 the diameter of the cupcake. About a thumb's width in from the left side of the cupcake, place the licorice lace vertically over the pretzel rod.
4. Selecting only brown M from the bag, build a curved arc that meets the top and bottom of the licorice lace to resemble a bow. Repeat on rest of cupcakes.
