This is just the sweetest dessert for Valentine’s Day. Imagine the joy on the faces of your little ones opening up their school lunches and finding one of these. Priceless.

Tips:

• If you find the heart shape too frustrating you can pipe 2” circles instead, like a traditional whoopie pie.

• Make a batch of these whoopie pies and freeze whatever you don’t eat.

• To make buttermilk place a tablespoon of white vinegar in a measuring cup then fill the cup with milk to 3/4 cup. Stir, then allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes until it curdles.

• Bring all your ingredients to room temperature before beginning.

• I tested this recipe using parchment and a Silpat. The red velvet cake baked higher and kept it’s shape better on parchment. Silpat lets the batter slide creating a flatter, thinner cake which wasn’t as pretty and a little dry. Use the parchment if you can.

Heart-Shaped Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Makes 17

PREP 20 minutes

COOK 7 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 cup (30 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder (can use regular unsweetened)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk

1 tablespoon liquid red food coloring

Sprinkles, optional for decorating

FILLING

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup Fluff

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon Malden sea salt or other flake sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To make the cakes: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

3. In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg beating well, then the vanilla extract. Scrap the sides of your bowl with a rubber scraper.

4. In a small measuring cup, mix the buttermilk and red food coloring.

5. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times to make sure you don’t have a clump of white flour.

6. Place the batter in a pastry bag with a 1/2” round tip. To make the shape of the heart, make two teardrops, decreasing your pressure as you pull the pastry bag towards you. The point of the teardrops should connect creating the heart shape. Wet your finger to smooth out the hearts. They will fill in a bit naturally while baking. See our YouTube video below for demonstration.

7. Try to make the hearts similar, about 2” in diameter at the fattest part. Place the hearts 2” apart. You should get 12 to a sheet. Remember you need 34 total hearts to get you the 17 whoopie pies.

8. Bake for about 7 minutes or until the tops of the cakes, when lightly pressed, spring back. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

9. To make the buttercream- Using a mixer cream the butter and Fluff together. Add the sugar, vanilla and salt. Whip this mixture for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. You will notice the buttercream getting lighter in color and fluffy.

10. Transfer the buttercream to a pastry bag with 1/2” round tip. You can also do this with an offset spatula, but it will take longer and won’t look so uniform. Still delicious! Pipe the flat side of a cake with about 2 tablespoons of buttercream, then top with another cake, flat side down. Continue until you have 17 whoopie pies. Decorate the sides with sprinkles if desired.