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Perfect for Valentine’s Day but equally ideal for a birthday party, class party or pretty much any occasion, these love bug cupcakes are adorable! They’re made with a chocolate cake mix, and these light and airy cupcakes are topped with a rich chocolate frosting. Fondant, candies and sprinkles add the finishing touches to these cute cupcakes so they resemble ladybugs. This is the kind of cupcake nobody can resist, and that includes the grownups as well as the little ones!

Get ready to impress this Valentine’s Day with these adorable love bug cupcakes! Perfect for adding charm to your celebration, they’re fun and easy to make.
More Valentine’s Day treats: love bug cake balls, Valentine marshmallow pops, red velvet sugar cookies, and strawberry cream Rice Krispie treats.
Why You’ll Love It
They’re adorable: These little ladybug cupcakes are so cute, it’s almost a shame to eat them (but they’re too tasty not to!)
Oh-so-delicious: The chocolate and vanilla flavors are really good in these.
A versatile treat: Make these for Valentine’s Day, for a birthday party or any occasion when you want to add a fun food element.
Cute Valentine’s Cupcakes Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Chocolate cake mix: This recipe uses store-bought chocolate cake mix as a simple and reliable base for moist and fluffy cupcakes. As the cake mix includes ingredients like baking soda, cake flour and so on, it’s a handy shortcut and means you don’t have to add much to the batter.
Buttermilk: Enhances and elevates the flavor profile and adds tenderness to the cake.
Eggs: Provide the structure of the cupcakes and adds moisture.
Vegetable oil: Keeps the cupcakes soft and moist.
Pure vanilla extract: Complements and elevates the chocolate flavor.
Unsalted butter: The creamy base for the frosting.
Powdered sugar: Sweetens and thickens the frosting.
Cocoa powder: Adds rich chocolate flavor to the buttercream.
Fondant: Creates a smooth, colorful design for the wings.
Edible eyes and heart sprinkles: Add a fun, whimsical touch.
White frosting gel: Ideal for use as the “glue” for your decorations. Melted candy melts are also a great alternative.
How to Make Ladybug Cupcakes
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Prepare the cupcake batter: Beat the cake mix with the buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.
Bake the cupcakes: Divide the batter between cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Frost the cupcakes: Beat the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla to make the frosting. Spread or pipe the frosting over the cooled chocolate cupcakes.
Add the decorations: Add fondant half-circles and then add heart sprinkles and edible eyes.
Substitutions and Variations
Different decorations: Heart shaped sprinkles are ideal for Valentine cupcakes but, if you’re making them for a different occasion, you can use different decorations instead, perhaps buttercream flowers, colorful buttercream roses or rainbow sprinkles.
Chocolate cake: Use any kind of chocolate cake or even a different flavor altogether.
Chocolate frosting: You can use readymade frosting to save time or make your own cream cheese frosting or favorite frosting.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: Serve up heart shaped potstickers or chips with your favorite dips.
Main dishes: Next up, enjoy a heart shaped pizza and melon proscuitto salad.
Desserts: Finish up with these love bug cupcakes and perhaps some homemade Italian cream soda.
How to Store Love Bug Cupcakes
Store: Store undecorated cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature. Store decorated cupcakes in the refrigerator to preserve the fondant and buttercream. Allow them to reach room temperature before serving for the best taste and texture.
Freeze: Freeze the undecorated cupcakes for up to 2 months if desired.
Thaw: Thaw well before frosting and decorating.
Top Tips
Don’t overfill the cupcake liners: Fill them about ⅔ full, otherwise they’ll overflow when they rise.
Cover the fondant: Keep the fondant covered while working to prevent it from drying out.
Get the kids involved: This is a great recipe for getting the kids involved. When working with little ones, you might want to precut the fondant.
Let them cool before decorating: It’s important that you let the cupcakes cool completely before adding the frosting, otherwise it will melt and look messy.
Valentine’s Cupcakes FAQs
Yes. Cupcakes can be baked a day ahead and stored at room temperature. Frosting can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. To keep it fresh, transfer the frosting to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. Before using, let it sit at room temperature to soften, and give it a quick whip to restore its creamy texture.
Sure. You can use any boxed cake mix you want, or even make your own favorite cake batter for the recipe. I bet lemon cupcakes would be really good too.
No, you can spread it over the cupcakes using an offset spatula or butter knife if you prefer. Or snip the corner off a Ziploc bag for a makeshift piping bag. Your Valentine’s Day cupcakes will look gorgeous either way.
Valentine’s Love Bug Cupcake Recipe
Love Bug Cupcakes
Equipment
- Cupcake Pan 24-Count
- Circle Cookie Cutter 2 ½-Inch
- Offset Spatula or Piping Bags
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 1 Box chocolate cake mix, 15¼-Ounce
- 1 Cup buttermilk
- 3 eggs, large
- ⅓ Cup vegetable oil
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract, pure
For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 Cup unsalted butter, 2 Sticks at room temperature
- 4 Cups powdered sugar
- ½ Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ Cup milk
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract, pure
For Decorating:
- fondant, white and red
- 48 candy eyes
- heart sprinkles
- frosting gel, white
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a 24-count cupcake pan with paper liners.
Make the Cupcake Batter:
- In a large mixing bowl, add the chocolate cake mix, buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.
- Beat on a low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes.
- Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners, filling each about ⅔ full.
Bake the Cupcakes:
- Bake for 14 to 18 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack.
Make the Frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat the softened unsalted butter until creamy.
- Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla extract to the bowl of creamed butter.
- Mix on a low speed until the ingredients are combined, then beat on a high speed for 2 minutes for a light, fluffy texture.
Decorate the Cupcakes:
- Spread or pipe the chocolate buttercream frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and smooth the tops with an offset spatula.
- Roll out the fondant and use a 2 ½-inch cookie cutter to cut circles.
- Cut each fondant circle in half.
- Add your heart sprinkles to decorate the ladybug wings, attach them with a small amount of frosting gel as glue.
- Add 2 fondant half circles to each cupcake to form the ladybug’s wings.
- Add 2 edible eyes near the edge of the fondant wings to create the ladybug’s face.
Notes
Cover the fondant: Keep the fondant covered while working to prevent it from drying out.
Get the kids involved: This is a great recipe for getting the kids involved. When working with little ones, you might want to precut the fondant.
Let them cool before decorating: It’s important that you let the cupcakes cool completely before adding the frosting, otherwise it will melt and look messy.
Nutrition
These cute ladybug heart cupcakes are a breeze to whip up, fun to frost and decorate, and very enjoyable to eat! They’re a great project for Valentine’s Day and you can even get the kids involved in the prep work and decorating them. The cupcakes are light, airy and chocolatey, with a rich and creamy buttercream frosting and fondant decorations.
Other Recipes to Try
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.