Valentine’s Love Bites

Thank you for letting me share with you a little about the love of a special family yesterday. Fitting that Valentine’s Day and all things *love* is just around the corner, no?

Here’s a clever theme idea for a Valentine’s Day party: Love Bites. Whether it’s you and the girls (and you’re all boycotting boys) or it’s a couples/family party and everyone is assigned a finger food (little love bites in the dessert form), here’s a delicious recipe by Dricoll’s to get you started. Mmmmm.

Deliciousness.

More Valentine’s Day inspiration (including party themes, decorations and recipes) here. And don’t forget to follow the jump for the above recipe.

Driscoll’s Berry Sweet Cupcake Tower

By Catha Riva, serves 12

Baking Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup fresh, crushed Driscoll’s strawberries, unsweetened

Icing Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup low-fat spreadable margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp fat-free milk

Also needed:
1 Wilton Dimensions Mini heart shaped pan
1 cupcake pan (12-cup)
Confectioner’s sugar
Cocktail picks
Driscoll’s Raspberries, 3 per cupcake

Baking instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together: flour, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat for a total of 3 minutes, scrapping the sides of the bowl.Then add flour mixture to creamed mixture, alternating with fresh Driscoll’s strawberries.Beat for two minutes. Pour batter into two Wilton Dimensions 6 heart pan and one 12-cup cupcake pan greased and floured. Bake in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Turn out on to wire cooling racks to cool.

When cool, assemble heart cupcakes with round cupcakes by cutting off the top of the round cupcakes and then slicing a slight angle to the remaining cake. Use a quarter size dollop of red icing on round cupcake top to attach heart cupcake. Sprinkle heavily with confectioner’s sugar. Spear center with three 4 3/4” Paddle Bamboo Picks, paddle side up. Apply a small amount of frosting and attach three Driscoll’s raspberries. Arrange cupcakes on tower (or on large tray if tower is not available).

Icing instructions:
In a large bowl and using a hand-held mixer, combine all ingredients until smooth and creamy.