To celebrate Valentine’s Day, the most romantic day of the year, let’s start with breakfast with cocoa and berry cupcakes. These are scenic and very refined sweets in the shape of a heart, very soft and easy to make. Extremely fragrant, thanks to the perfect combination of cocoa and orange, and so delicious that we can also prepare them as a dessert for a romantic dinner.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4-5 cupcakes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Valentine's Day, All seasons
Ingredients
- 2.3 oz Butter (very soft)
- 2.1 oz Powdered vanilla sugar
- 1 Egg (medium)
- 3.5 oz All-purpose flour
- 0.4 oz Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 0.2 oz Baking powder
- 1.7 tbsp Milk
- 1.7 tbsp Orange juice
- 1 pinch Fine salt
- to taste Orange zest (grated)
- 0.4 cup Heavy cream
- to taste Berries
Preparation
1) Take the butter out of the fridge and let it soften at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
2) Grate the orange zest and squeeze the juice.
3) Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until creamy.
4) Add the whole egg and incorporate it into the butter mixture with the mixer.
5) Preheat the oven to 356°F.
6) Sift together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Add them to the creamy mixture, along with the pinch of salt, milk, grated zest, and orange juice.
7) Mix until smooth and homogeneous. Do not overwork cake batters, as they may become overheated, ruining the final result. As soon as the ingredients are perfectly combined, stop the mixer.
8) Butter and flour heart-shaped molds and fill them halfway. Level the content with the back of a spoon and bake them in the middle rack for about 20 minutes.
To check if the cupcakes are ready, pierce one with a skewer stick, which should come out completely dry and clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let them cool well before decorating with whipped cream and berries.
