WHAT’S FOR A VALENTINE'S DAY TREAT?
Homemade Hostess Cakes
Array/5
COOK TIME
20 min
TOTAL TIME
40 min
SERVINGS
10-12 hearts
Valentine’s Day is upon us, it’s a perfect time to bake a childhood favorite dessert. The Hostess Cupcake…but in heart form. Ya know, since it’s Valentine’s Day. I’m so creative. I also attempted to make them fancy with the writing, but sometimes you need to know your strengths. And writing on desserts is not one of mine, but I think they turned out pretty cute. Plus, they are topped with chocolate ganache which makes any decorating mistakes forgiven.
These are one of those desserts that brings up childhood memories for me. I never had Hostess cupcakes in my lunch when I was little, but I believe it was my friend Shelli who had them in her lunch pretty often. But I’m pretty sure my mom never bought them for me because I literally would only eat the frosting off the top. It was so satisfying when it peeled off all in one. Come on though, that frosting was so good. Thick, fudge and I’m sure all kinds of processed chemicals. It’s what the 80s were all about.
I took my original semi homemade chocolate cake recipe, cut out hearts with a cookie cutter, made them two layers and filled with a vanilla buttercream frosting in the middle. Then of course poured chocolate ganache over the tops and let drizzle over the sides. Followed by eating the leftover ganache with a spoon. I’m not proud, but I would do it again.
Try these out for an adorable Valentine’s Day dessert to share. Leave me a comment or snap a pic and tag me @lolohomekitchen I would love to see what you are baking this Valentine’s Day. Or as my husband says, this “hallmark holiday.” He’s so romantic.
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Homemade Hostess Cakes
I took my original semi homemade chocolate cake recipe, cut out hearts with a cookie cutter, made them two layers and filled with a vanilla buttercream frosting in the middle. Then of course poured chocolate ganache over the tops and let drizzle over the sides.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 box (3.9 oz) chocolate fudge instant pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup prepared, warm coffee
4 eggs
Vanilla Buttercream
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Ganache
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a jelly roll pan with non stick spray and set aside. I used a 12×17 shallow pan.
2. In a mixer bowl, pour in the box cake mix and pudding mix. Then add the sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs and coffee, mix together well. Batter will be very thick.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine was done closer to the 15 minute mark.
5. Set aside to cool before cutting out the hearts and frosting the mini cakes.
6. Once cooled, cut your heart shapes out with a cookie cutter and set aside on a wire rack.
BUTTERCREAM
1. Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter for about 2 minutes until fluffy.
2. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mix after each addition. Then add the vanilla, heavy cream and salt. Add more powdered sugar for a thicker frosting and more cream for a thinner frosting.
3. Using a piping bag or a plain old knife, frost the top of one cake heart and then place another cake heart on top to make your cake sandwich. You can make the layer as thick or thin as your tastebuds desire.
CHOCOLATE GANACHE
1. Place the chocolate chunks in a medium sized bowl and set aside. Heat your cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the cream just starts to boil, remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Stir until smooth.
2. Using a spoon or straight from the bowl, pour the ganache over your assembled heart sandwiches. Make sure to let it drizzle over the sides as well.
4. Cool the frosted cakes completely, in the fridge is recommended. Now they are ready to eat and impress all your friends, be sure to reminisce about what you always wished was in your lunch box.
Notes
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