Happy Lame-o Valentines Day!

Honestly, I have found Valentines Day to be completely underwhelming since I was about 10. BUT...it's a very exciting holiday for five- to ten-year-olds, because they get to have a party at school. Callie was really excited for about two weeks beforehand. So we made cupcakes to honor St. Valentine. I'm pretty sure that there is some kind of gory legend connected with St. Valentine himself, but I can't remember it. Anyone?

We made Devil's Food cupcakes, with Nutella frosting, and we filled them with raspberry jam, just to be extra fancy. And, since the girls like to rock out while baking, I put the word "love" into the search on my itunes library and played the following :

Love, Reign O’er Me –The Who

Cry For Love – Iggy Pop

Tainted Love –Soft Cell

Somebody To Love – Jefferson Airplane

Sunshine Of Your Love –Cream

Underwater Love –Faith No More

Love To Hate You –Erasure

May This Be Love –Jimi Hendrix

Whole Lotta Love –Led Zeppelin

Fell In Love With a Girl –White Stripes

Dub The Frequencies of Love –Gogol Bordello

Sea of Love – (two versions) Cat Power, Tom Waits

Could You Be Loved –Bob Marley

Devil's Food cupcakes:

Put paper cupcake liners in two cupcake/muffin pans for total of 24

Heat oven to 350

In one bowl, whisk together:

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

In another bowl, whisk together:

1 cup sugar

1 cup buttermilk (or one cup milk, into which you have squeezed half a lemon)

1/2 cup nonalkalized cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

In yet another bowl, beat until creamy:

1 stick of softened butter

Gradually add and beat on high speed until fluffy:

1 cup sugar

Beat in one at a time:

2 large eggs

On low speed add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk mixture in 2 parts, beating until smooth.

Fill cupcake papers about halfway, and bake for about 18-22 min -- check with a toothpick, if it comes out clean, they're done

After these have cooled, fill them with raspberry jam

Just poke holes in them with a chopstick, then put jam in a plastic ziploc and squeeze jam into the cupcakes.

Then make the:

Nutella Frosting

I did not exactly measure while making this, so the most important thing is to add enough powdered sugar to make a consistency that will not slide off the cake, and yet will be easy to spread. First you take:

2 sticks of softened butter

Put them in a mixing bowl and add:

4-6 tablespoons of Nutella

Beat these together, then add:

6 oz of chocolate that has been melted, then cooled a little

Then add powdered sugar until you reach the right consistency. If you make the frosting too stiff, you can add milk to thin it back out.

Frost the cupcakes, and sprinkle with hearts.