Valentine Heart Muffins

Valentine Heart Muffins

for 12 muffins you will need:

• 7/8 cup (7oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups     caster sugar (Or "C&H Bakers Sugar")
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk
• red food colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 350°
2. Mix the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until it gets creamy. Put in the powder, soda, salt and vanilla extract and mix it until it's smooth. 
3. Add in the flour and milk alternatively in batches and beat it until light and creamy.
4. Set aside about 2/3 of the batter and colour it red (or pink). Pour into a small (20x30 or smaller) greased and lightly floured pan and bake for about 20 minutes.
5. Allow it to cool down completely. Take a small heart-shaped cookie cutter and cut out 12 small red hearts that will fit into a muffin paper case well.
6. Once that the cutting is done, line the muffin pan with 12 paper baskets and fill them about halfway with the white batter. Then take the hearts, put them in the batter and push them down a bit. You can take a black marker and make a small dot on the paper case in the direction the heart is facing - this way you will know how to cut the muffin. Make sure you cover the top of the heart with batter so that it is not poking out. Even though the batter will rise in the oven, it will not engulf the heart completely if not covering it already.
7. Bake the muffins for 24 minutes.