Valentine Vanilla Heart Muffins

As the 14th February rears its heart-shaped head, you too might crumble under the pressure of being all romantic and decide it's time to make something for your significant otter. The way to a man's heart leads through his stomach (unless you plan to stab him, in which case it's better to start a bit higher) but I'm quite positive that anyone enjoys muffins especially if they are enhanced by a cute heart inside.

I discovered the idea for these muffins at a really cool site dedicated to stuff inside cupcakes and adapted it to an easy muffin recipe. Eventually, I tried to make frosting but once again it didn't end up well and I am a proud owner of a delicious cream spread that's good on cinnamon toasts but is too runny to be used as frosting. Anyway, here's the recipe!

Valentine Vanilla Heart Muffins

The courageous can hide a diamond ring inside

for 12 muffins you will need:

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 400g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt
• 400g all purpose flour
• 320ml whole milk
• red food colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Mix the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until it gets creamy. Scrape off the edges to get everything nice and incorporated in the batter. 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. You can speed it up by putting it in a cold place, fridge or on a window sill. 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. You might want to rotate the pan after 10 minutes if your oven is hotter in the back like mine :)
8. Optionally, frosting can be made. The original post suggests this buttercream frosting.

When you turn your head it also look like a butt