In honor of Valentine's Day, I decided it might be fun for our preschoolers and kindergartner to decorate cupcakes in Valentine's Day colors. To help me with this, Duncan Hines sent us Red Velvet Moist Deluxe cake mix and Cream Cheese frosting. I love using cake mixes because they are so easy and quick to use. Most only require you to add water, oil, and eggs.I've never made or tasted red velvet cake before. I was taken aback a little that the batter was actually red. I did not know what to expect of the taste either. Would it taste like chocolate or would it be fruity? It turned out to taste a lot like white cake with maybe a tiny touch of chocolate. It was perfect to use with frosting because it was not too sweet on its own. My favorite variety of cake is butter cake, so next time I make Duncan Hines Red Velvet cake, I am going to try replacing the vegetable oil with butter. Yum!
When the cake was done, it came out reddish brown. I had to let them cool on a plate before I could frost them. It actually didn't take too long at all . . . maybe 30 minutes.
In addition to the Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting, I also had pink and white sprinkles and Valentine's Day M&Ms for the kids to decorate with. I applied the frosting just to make it easier for the kids.
After filling the twelve silicone cupcake baking cups, I had some cake batter left over so I made a single layer cake also. I decorated some of the cupcakes and the cake to give the kids an example of the possibilities. I found that, even though the frosting was so smooth and creamy, the sprinkles would not stick to it. So I had to press the frosted cupcakes into a bowl of sprinkles to make them sink into the frosting.
Next I let the kids loose with a bowl of sprinkles and M&Ms. Both the twins took me up on my offer to press their cupcakes into the sprinkles for them, but their big brother decided he would use his own methods.
Here are the results of their decorating . . .
The cupcakes were as delicious as they looked, especially the creamy frosting that was sweet, but not too sweet. If you'd like to give it a try, you should be able to find all the ingredients needed at your local supermarket. To learn more about Duncan Hines products or to find fun recipes, visit DuncanHines.com .
Thank you to Duncan Hines for sending us samples of cake mix and frosting free of charge to try our hand at a Valentine's Day dessert.
