Valentine's Day Gift Boxes

It's no secret I love holidays -- ask any of my family or friends and they can tell you I'm probably planning some little party or dessert extravaganza to celebrate. Anything from Thankgiving to Fourth of July to Purim is just a reason to bake and have a good time with friends! Who doesn't want to do that?

 So when Valentine's Day came rolling around (after I baked this Valentine's Day Cake) I was looking for ways to embrace the Hallmark holiday with my family and friends when inspiration suddenly hit me. For Thanksgiving I had given each of my friends a homemade pumpkin pie as seen in this post A Time to Celebrate, so I decided that for Valentine's Day I would give each of my friends and family a gift box of different and delicious cupcakes! One box for each of my 6 closest friends and my aunts and uncles. I spent my simply perfect Wednesday morning, afternoon, and night making 80 coconut, red velvet, chocolate, and vanilla cupcakes which I then packaged into adorable, little boxes with personal notes for each of my family and friends.

Obviously great preparations are in order...

I used a coconut cake recipe from a Williams-Sonoma baking book (which I will share later!) and simply put it into cupcake form by changing the baking time from 30 minutes to 20. I paired it with this heavenly coconut cream cheese frosting by Ina Garten which went together perfectly. Once they finished baking (and cooling) I simply frosted and generously coated the cupcakes in shredded coconut, easily leaving them looking tasty and professional. 

The vanilla cupcakes I used were from this book Cupcakes! which I accompanied with a vanilla buttercream frosting (also from the Williams-Sonoma baking book) that turned out perfectly. The chocolate cupcakes I'm sad to say weren't as good as I hoped...

                         

I used (yet another...) Williams-Sonoma chocolate cake recipe which was even more shocking as to why the cupcakes didn't turn out as moist or rich as the picture makes them look. I'm pretty sure there was an error on my end because, lets face it, a Williams-Sonoma cookbook is basically the bible. The cupcakes were still tasty (especially when frosted with the chocolate buttercream frosting once again from the William's Sonoma baking book...) but I was definitely on the search for a better chocolate cake/cupcake recipe.

                      

Now for the prized, perfect, simply amazing red velvet! What to say about these gems - they really turned out perfect. Kudos to The Brown Eyed Baker for her Red Velvet Cupcake recipe that really cannot get any better. It's perfectly red, moist, and has that great cocoa flavor of a red velvet without overwhelmingly and suddenly turning into a chocolate flavor. I used the Williams-Sonoma cream cheese frosting recipe from the baking book but definitely prefer the Sprinkle's cream cheese frosting recipe I shared here for it's texture and supreme taste. 

I got much praise and great reviews for the cupcakes (chocolate didn't seem as adored as the rest) but that only leave's room for improvement! Any baking I do whether it's simple chocolate chip cookies or a huge 3 layer cake only adds to my experience, helps me practice, and allows me to master to this passionate hobby of mine.