Valentine's Day Cupcakes | Doctored Up Cake Mix

Do you love giving or receiving a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day? Well, what if you could take that box of chocolates to the next level with some cupcakes?! I’m going to share how to make a box cake moist and fluffy and then show you how to make some adorable Valentine's Day cupcakes displayed in a heart shaped box. If you want to see a video on this tutorial, then click below!

If you’re new here, welcome to Artsy Cupcake. I’m Maria and I love crafts, cupcakes and creativity. I get to be creative every day as a designer, but I know how important creativity is for the mind and soul, which is why I share different ways to be creative in your life.

Ok, let’s get going on this doctored up chocolate cake mix because, well, it’s just fun to experiment in the kitchen, right?

I found this Pillsbury chocolate cake mix at Dollar Tree and it calls for a few things on the back here, but we’re going rogue and try a few different things.

// ingredients

Box of chocolate cake mix

1 stick melted butter

4 eggs

12 oz. sour cream

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

// instructions

Combine ingredients with a mixer, then fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into cupcake liners. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

// valentine’s day them up

Look how moist these cupcakes came out. They are moist, but not to the point of being overly heavy. And those chocolate chips got just the right amount of melted.

While you are letting these cool down for frosting, you can work on the chocolate box. 

Fun fact: the first time a box of chocolates was made in a heart shape for St. Valentine's Day was in 1861.

I found this box for a few dollars at Michael’s. It has a hole in the top, I think it’s meant for receiving Valentine’s cards. I liked that it was deep enough to hold the cupcakes. I lined the inside with some red tissue paper, just to finish off the look but it’s also functional because if any icing gets on the edges (which it probably will!), they can just throw out the tissue paper and are still able to use that box for something else.

I found these chocolates at Dollar Tree and they were pretty tasty. If you wanted to make these deluxe, you could go with a fancier brand of chocolates for the toppers. Or, if your sweetie likes white chocolate, these would be really neat with vanilla cupcakes, white frosting and some white chocolates on top!

Depending on the size of box you end up using, if you have any empty spaces left, you can just fill those with the leftover chocolates. I finished off the box with a little ribbon and gold bow.

For more Valentine’s Day cupcake inspiration, check out my post from last year where I made a heart in the middle of the cupcake!

surprise heart in the middle cupcakes

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