Red Velvet Valentine

So I sent my daughter off to school today with a backpack stuffed with Valentines and her hands full of a Perry the Platypus Box that she had made herself out of a shoe box and some construction paper.  And I was thinking...why should the kids have all the fun?

I decided that my Mom friends needed to have a little fun on Valentine's day too.  Most moms will agree that lunch time at home with the little kiddos just isn't that great.  You get a little tired of PBJ and mac and cheese.  Know what I mean?  I knew just the thing to bring a little smile this Valentine's Day.  Dessert.  Nothing major.  Something light.  Something just for them that they could hide in the pantry and eat.  All alone.  You know...just something to bring a little pizzazz to their hotdogs and chips. 

A Red Velvet Valentine.

Here's the scoop:

Whip up a batch of red velvet cupcakes.  While those are baking and cooling you need to do a couple more things.  First up...make some frosting.  I wanted mine to be light and fluffy not super sweet.  I mixed a package of cream cheese with a cup and a half of powdered sugar.  Mix well.  Fold in a container of Cool Whip.  Then spoon it into a frosting bag with a large star tip.  Place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.  Now move onto the strawberries.  Rinse them well and give them a rough chop.  That's it.  You're ready to assemble your little jars of heaven.

Cut your cupcake in half.  Place the bottom half in a small half pint mason jar.  Swirl some frosting on top.  Spoon some strawberries on top of that.  Add another smaller swirl of frosting.  Place the rest of the cupcake into the jar.  Add one more swirl of frosting and you are almost done.  At this point you could dress it up with some sprinkles.  But if you really want to be the hero...add a chocolate covered strawberry.

We mustn't forget the presentation.  Valentine's Day is all about the presentation.  The sky is the limit here.  I didn't necessarily need to put a lid on my jars.  But they would be super cute with a red or white or pink topper of some kind.  I decided to just wrap some red baker's twine around the jar a few times and attach a spoon.  I figured, who wants to mess with a lid when they can just dig right in.  Right?

There you have it.  A little jar full of love.  For your Mommy friends.