Valentine Season is officially upon us! If you’ve been following Me and Annabel Lee for the past couple of years, you know it’s an exciting time around here! I don’t know what it is about this holiday…. I really don’t like traditional Valentine’s Day at all…. but my version of Valentine’s day is a far stretch from tradition, and it gets my creative juices flowing!! I already have more projects in work than I have weeks to deliver them all to you! First up… a little delectable. A Vampire inspired Bloody Anti Valentine Cupcake and Conversation Heart Cookie Topper. Two twisted treats in one!
Let me bring you back to how this all started…. I was recently poking through a box I have filled with small kitchen gadgets (molds, pans, cookie cutters, etc) and came upon a set of cookie cutters that imprint words onto cookies. One of the shapes that comes along with the set is a heart. A Heart shape with words on it? Hello Conversation Heart cookies! Well, I am certainly not one to make cutesy desserts, so the typical words you see on candy conversation hearts just wouldn’t do. Instead, something a bit more sinister.. Bite Me!
I wanted the cookies to be dark red. For one… this is a Valentine dessert. Two… I liked the stark contrast of red on white (more on that later). To make the dough, I used the Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookie recipe from the Skull Stamped Cookies, and transformed it into a Red Velvet Sugar Cookie. This is my favorite dough for stamped cookies… it just keeps its shape really well. To create the dark red color, I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of Super Red Gel Food Color. I prefer to use gel because I find I can get a bolder color. If you only have the liquid food coloring on hand, you may need to use more of it to achieve the correct color. I also used 1/8 cup of dark cocoa powder. This gives the color a dark red, and prevents it from going too pink (which red can sometimes do once baked).
Some tips to get perfect cookies…..
Allow the dough to chill until completely firm (2-3 hours). The stamps do not work as well with soft dough. Once it’s firm, work with 1/3 of the dough at a time, keeping the other 2/3 chilled. As you move on to the remaining dough, put the remnants back in the fridge to firm back up.
Roll the dough on a floured surface to a bit thicker than 1/8″. I liked the way the letters looked on a thicker cookie. With a thin cookie, you run the risk of the cookie cutter’s letters leaving holes in the cookie.
After working with a few cookies, I realized it was easiest to cut the heart shape, move it to the cookie sheet, and then stamp the cookie.
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Here’s what you’ll need to make these Cookies:
- Red Velvet Sugar Cookie Dough (See recipe below)
- Cookie Imprinter
Follow the recipe below to make the cookie dough.
Load the letters into the stamp to create your word. The set does come with 3 sets of each letter, but if you plan on using phrases that repeat the same letter more than that, you can buy an additional set of letters with this 96 Piece Alphabet Cookie Stamp Set.
Working in small batches, roll the dough on a floured surface
Using the cookie cutter, cut hearts out of the dough and place on a cookie sheet
Press the stamp firmly onto the dough heart to imprint the word
Bake the cookies, and allow to cool completely.
The cookies turned out exactly as I had imagined. On their own, these cookies make a perfect Valentine treat. In fact, tie a stack in a black ribbon, and they become a great Gothic or Anti Valentine gift for friends and loved ones who could use a good laugh. I wanted to do more with these cookies, however, and had the idea to use the cookie as a cupcake topper. Two years ago, I created another Valentine Cupcake and topper with these Red & Black Cupcakes and Chocolate Anatomical Heart Toppers! I loved the way they turned out, and figured it was time for a new version! Adding toppers to cupcakes is such an easy way to make a bold statement on an otherwise basic dessert.
Given my “Bite Me” cookie theme…. I don’t know about you but when I think of the suggestion of biting, my mind goes straight to Vampires. And when a vampire bites you?….. blood. Thus… a “blood” filled cupcake, drizzled in more “blood”! It’s a loose interpretation, I know, but when you get inspired by something it’s best just to go with it!
This is not the first time, I’ve filled a Valentine treat with a bloody filling. You really must try these Bloody Raspberry filled Chocolate Skulls. The filling I used for the cupcakes was based on the one from those chocolate skulls, but this time I opted for a Seedless Raspberry preserve, instead of the frozen Raspberries. I felt that a seedless filling would better resemble blood, which was the whole point. The filling from the Chocolate Skulls recipe has a slightly stronger Raspberry taste (since it used actual raspberries), but both were delicious (in fact, I am devouring the cupcakes now as I write this!!). Point is… you have two options for the filling. 🙂
For the blood drizzled on top of the cake, I needed something that would easily drip, something more fluid than the filling. I went with a Raspberry Chocolate Sauce. Typically I would’ve stuck with just the Raspberry flavor, but as I mentioned in the Cookie Recipe, chocolate has a way of creating a beautiful dark red. Luckily chocolate and raspberries pair exceptionally well!
I opted for an all white cupcake (white frosting, white cake, and white cupcake liners to ensure the blood and the red heart cookie would stand out). I used White Baking Cups to bake the cupcakes, but as you may already know…. baking in a white baking cup results in a beige “cooked” cup. To fix this issue, I dropped the baked cupcake (with original baking cup still on) into a second baking cup. Note… this trick does not work well on the standard accordion pleated cupcake liners, so splurge for the nicer ones. The additional liner created the white base I was looking for. To take it one step further, I also used White Filigree Cupcake Wrappers. In my mind… Vampires are fancy, so these cupcakes needed an ornate detail. All in all, the cupcake sat in three total liners… 2 baking cups, and one filigree wrap.
Here’s what you’ll need to create the Cupcakes:
- White Cake Mix
- White Frosting
- Raspberry “Blood” Filling (Recipe below)
- Chocolate Raspberry “Blood” Sauce (Recipe below)
- White Baking Cups
- White Filigree Cupcake Wrappers
I opted to use a boxed white cake mix and pre-made white frosting. There are so many delicious recipes for both white cake and white frosting, so if you feel like making this treat from scratch, feel free.
Bake the cupcakes and allow to cool completely.
There is such a thing as a Cupcake Corer, but I did the job myself. Not quite as pretty but it got the job done. Using a sharp knife, carve a cone shape from the top center of the cupcake, and set the cone aside.
Using a small spoon, carve a slightly bigger cavity into the cupcake center. Discard the cake remnants… mine were discarded into my stomach. 🙂
Raspberry Filling:
- 10 oz Seedless Raspberry Preserves
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Corn Starch
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla
- Add all 4 ingredients to a saucepan over Medium-High heat
- Whisk until thoroughly combined
- Once mixture is bubbling, remove from heat
- Allow to cool until mixture is thick
Spoon the Raspberry filling into the cavity of each cupcake. You can also use a Cupcake Injector… which, you guessed it, injects filling into cupcakes. I have one which I’ve never used … and should’ve tested out on these cupcakes! oh well… guess I have an excuse to come up with another creation to test it out on! Stay tuned!
Slice the end off of the cake cone, and replace.
Top the cupcake with the white frosting.
Chocolate Raspberry Sauce:
- 1/4 cup Corn Syrup
- 1 tbsp Seedless Raspberry Preserves
- 1/2 tbsp Chocolate Syrup
- 1/2 tsp Red Gel Food Color
- Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat.
- Whisk until the preserves have liquefied
Drizzle with the Chocolate Raspberry “Blood” over the white frosting.
Insert Conversation Heart Cookie as a cupcake topper to complete the look. The Cookie is heavy, so you’ll have to push the cookie down into the cupcake itself to prevent it from toppling over.
Enjoy!!
Red Velvet Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
- 1 1/2 tsp Red Gel Food Color
- 2 1/2 cup Flour
- 1/8 cup Dark Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Combine butter and brown sugar with electric mixer until fluffy
- Beat in egg, vanilla, almond extract, and food color
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder
- Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time
- Blend thoroughly
- Knead into a ball, and refrigerate for 2-3 hours
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
- Roll dough on a lightly floured surface
- Cut with a cookie cutter
- Use a stamp to imprint a design
- Bake 12 minutes
- Cool on rack
Just trying to follow liner instructions. Bake in 1 good liner, drop into 2nd good liner and then into lace cup?
Thanks.
Hi Anna! Thanks for the question! Even when I wrote it I thought it may be a bit confusing. I just went back and edited it so it might be more clear… But yes – you got it correct. Bake in a nice baking cup… After baked, drop the whole cupcake (liner and all) into another baking cup, and wrap the entire thing with the lace cup! 🙂
I so love your website and creativity . . . you come up with the most marvelous things, all year ’round! ❤️ I’m also not a big fan of Valentine’s Day, and am cackling mightily over the Bite Me cookies since it appeals both to my sense of humor in general, and that I am such a huge Halloween fanatic in particular, no matter what time of year it is. These would be so much fun for Valentine’s Day! One question with the dark chocolate in the cookies: I have regular Hershey’s cocoa powder, and also double Dutch dark chocolate powder and black cocoa powder from kingarthurflour.com. Which of the three chocolates would you recommend for this? King Arthur’s black cocoa is the color of Oreo cookies. Their double Dutch chocolate is a little darker than Hershey’s cocoa powder, but not as dark as their black chocolate.
Hi Deborah! Thank you so much for your comment! I’m thrilled you get my twisted sense of humor with these cookies!! As for the cocoa powder. I’m confident that the Hershey’s and the Double Dutch would give very similar results. It’s a pretty small amount of cocoa powder relative to the rest of the ingredients,so I don’t think the difference between the two would be too noticeable. I just typically use dark cocoa powder, because it’s both a preference of mine to have on hand (for drinking hot cocoa) 🙂 and with almost anything I’m baking, if I have an opportunity to choose a darker color over a light one, I’ll go with the darker. So, if it were me, I’d probably choose the Double Dutch. As for the Black Cocoa…. I am hesitant to comment only because I have not played with that one. I have a huge bag of it sitting in my pantry waiting for some experimenting! My guess is it would probably be just fine…. but the Double Dutch sounds like it’s closest to what I used (which was Hershey’s Dark), so if you like the color of my cookies, that’s probably the safest bet. Thank you for reminding me to pull out that bag of black cocoa though, and start brainstorming!!