The month of love is coming fast and that means Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. These Cupid Bow Cupcakes are a fun and adorable way to honor February 14^th with some delicious treats for your family. The good news is that they are also easy to make.

pink cupcakes topped with white frosting, a red heart, and a pretzel stick with pink frosting made to look like an arrow, all on a white counter with more cupcakes and a glass of milk in the background

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What you Need to Make These Cupid Bow Cupcakes
How to Make This Cupid Bow Cupcake Recipe
📋 Recipe

These cupcakes are a great way to enjoy Valentine’s Day with your family. They are even good for class parties, potlucks and even Valentine’s Day parties. No matter why you make these, they are sure to bring someone a smile on Valentine’s Day.

We choose to go with white cake mix for these cupcakes. Whether you use a boxed mix or your favorite recipe, they always turn out nicely. In fact, these are so much fun to create, the kids can help out and enjoy the decorating process.

Perfectly adorable.

So, now is as good a time as any to get started making these Cupid Bow Cupcakes.

What you Need to Make These Cupid Bow Cupcakes

Remember, you can choose to use either boxed mix or your favorite recipe for these cupcakes. It is important to note though, that you are going to want to let them cool before you start decorating them.

Here is what you need:

12 white cupcakes – You can either opt for a boxed mix, or a family favorite homemade recipe. While most boxed mixes and recipes make 24 cupcakes, just simply half the ingredients to make 12.
¼ teaspoon of pink gel food coloring – This can usually be purchased at your local grocery store.
½ a cup of softened unsalted butter – To soften your butter properly, you can just leave it a room temperature until you are ready to use it.
2 cups of confectioners’ sugar – It is important that you use this for the buttercream. It is also known as icing sugar.
1 tablespoon of milk – The kind you use is entirely up to you.
12 small pretzel sticks – These are generally easy to find in the snack aisle of your grocery store.
½ a cup of pink candy melts – Make sure you find pink candy melts as it will set it apart from the red fondant.
4-5 ounces of red rolling fondant – This is important to the design of your cupcakes, so make sure that you don’t skip this.
Wilton decorating tip #21
Piping bag

wooden spoon, red fondant, white bowl with pink candy melts in it, pretzel sticks, pink gel food coloring and confectioners sugar on a blue and white striped cloth

How to Make This Cupid Bow Cupcake Recipe

Step 1

Follow the recipe of your choice or do what it says on your box of white cake mix. Mix the cake batter according to your recipe’s directions,

cake batter ingredients in a metal mixing bowl next to a whisk and pink food coloring pink cupcakes topped with white frosting, a red heart, and a pretzel stick with pink frosting made to look like an arrow, all on a white counter with more cupcakes and a glass of milk in the background

Step 2

Add in the pink gel food coloring as you mix. Make sure you mix the batter well to ensure that it is completely tinted.

pink cake batter in a metal mixing bowl with a whisk in it next to a wooden spoon, pretzel sticks and pink candy melts on a blue and white striped cloth on a white table

Step 3

Once the cupcakes have fully baked, allow them to cool before beginning to decorate them.

Step 4

Prepare your buttercream while the cupcakes cool. Use a large bowl, beat together the butter, confectioner’s sugar and milk using an electric mixer. Make sure to start the mixer off on low, gradually increasing the speed until you reach high. Combine until you see semi-stiff peaks start to form.

Step 5

When your buttercream is done mixing, scoop it into a piping bag. You are going to want to use the #21 Wilton decorating tip.

Step 6

Frost each cupcake carefully.

pink cupcakes, a couple with white frosting, the rest without, on a wire rack on a blue and white striped cloth on a white table

Step 7

Line a pan with wax paper and knead the rolling fondant until it becomes smooth in texture.

Step 8

Roll out 24 fondant spheres. You will want each sphere to be about one inch in size.

Step 9

Now it is time to create a heart. Press the bottom two fondant spheres together, creating a point at the end. Repeat this step to create 12 hearts and set aside on half of the wax paper lined pan.

a white bowl with pink candy melts next to more of the same and pretzel sticks, a wooden spoon, and red fondant being shaped into balls and a heart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper on a blue and white striped cloth on a white table

Step 10

Line up your 12 pretzel sticks on the other half of your lined pan.

Step 11

Microwave your pink candy melts in 30 second intervals. Stir between each interval until melted.

Step 12

Pour your melted candy into a piping bag and cut out a small tip at the end of the bag. Make sure to keep this cut small.

Step 13

Create 2 V-shapes on each of the pretzel sticks. Then, set aside for 20 minutes to allow the candy to set.

pretzel sticks with pink frosting on them to look like an arrow on parchment paper on a baking sheet with more pretzel sticks and pink candy melts in the background on a blue and white striped cloth on a white table

Step 14

Once set, insert a pretzel stick into each cupcake and follow it with the fondant heart.

pink cupcakes, 3 topped with white frosting, and one topped with a pretzel stick with pink frosting on it to look like an arrow, next to two red fondant hearts on a wire rack on a blue and white striped cloth on a white table

Step 15

Serve up to the ones you love on Valentine’s Day!

📋 Recipe

Cupid’s Bow Cupcakes

Corinne Schmitt

5 from 14 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 35

Total Time 1

Course Cupcakes, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings

Calories 299 kcal

Ingredients

▢ 1 box White cake mix plus ingredients listed on box to make them
▢ 1/2 teaspoon pink gel food coloring
▢ 1 cup softened unsalted butter
▢ 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
▢ 2 tablespoon milk
▢ 24 small pretzel sticks
▢ 1 cup pink candy melts
▢ 10 ounces red rolling fondant

Instructions

Mix cake batter according to box’s directions. Add gel food coloring and mix until batter is completely tinted.
Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners and fill each cup 2/3 full. Baked according to package directions.
Set cupcakes aside to cool completely.
While the cupcakes cool, prepare the buttercream. In a large bowl beat together the butter, confectioners’ sugar and milk with an electric mixer. Start on low and gradually increase to high.
Once the ingredients are well-combined and form semi-stiff peaks, scoop into a piping bag with Wilton tip #21 attached.
Frost each cupcake.
Line a pan with wax paper. Knead rolling fondant until smooth.
Roll 48 fondant spheres, each one about one inch in size.
To create a heart, press the bottom two fondant spheres together, pointing it at the end. Repeat to create 24 fondant hearts and set aside on half of the wax-paper-lined pan.
Line up 24 pretzel sticks on lined pan. In a small bowl, microwave pink candy melts in 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval.
Pour melted candy into a piping bag and cut out a small tip at the end.
Frost out 2 V-shapes on each pretzel stick. Allow to set, about 20 minutes.
Insert one pretzel stick into each cupcake, followed by the fondant heart.
Serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 299kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 1gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 184mgPotassium: 23mgFiber: 1gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 238IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 52mgIron: 1mg

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