Estimated time to make this valentine:
an hour or so, for 24

Appropriate age group(s):
Middle School
High School & Beyond

Materials:
large red Apples, washed

cutting board

sharp knife (and adult supervision!)

tin cookie cutter, 3 inches

airtight container to hold apple snacks

Fruit Fresh powder (ascorbic acid stuff that prevents discoloration of fruit; look in 'canning' section of store), or Tang, or lemon juice.

Instructions:
Have fruit juice or Fruit Fresh at the ready, in a bowl, to dip apple parts in as you work.

Think of the apple as having a 'face'. Lop the 'face' off on one side, cutting it fairly thick, but cutting so there is no core within the slice. Turn the apple, and cut a second 'face'.

If you have a cookie cutter the right size, push it thru the apple to create a nice, neat heart. (Give it a gentle push to pierce the fruit, then press with your palm to work it thru the apple). You may then have to pull the outside 'scraps' away first, then push the heart-shape out of the middle. If you think you've cut your slice too thick, you can adjust after this trial run ;-) The cookie cutter is going to be the safest way to go. If you are having trouble with it, just pierce the apple enough to get the Shape established, remove it, and finish the deeper cutting with a knife.

You can also make a heart-shaped 'pattern', of paper or an index card, and carefully hold it on your apple as a guideline, while you cut with the other hand.

If you have no hangups about the shapes not being Identical, you can cut the heart-shapes 'freehand', as I did. I chose to start cutting at the curvy top of the apple, for the curvy part of the heart, and then angle down the sides to bottom center, then do the opposite side to 'match' as closely as possible.

If you make carving mistakes, at least you can eat them!

Other comments or suggestions to consider:
My teenager looked at me, shook her head, and said "Mom's gone over the edge, that's fer shur..."

well...

I made these because: I asked my son's teacher to tell me if there was any item from The List for her class Valentine party that came up short; I would supply it...and in the excess of Valentine's Day in the USA, apparently Nothing was lacking, so I never heard back from her ;-)

Sugar is usually well represented (and rightly so), but I thought the kids might eat a piece of apple, if presented differently, and my son's response to the idea was positive, so we went with it. (He's 7.)

The label on the Fruit Fresh says to prep the fruit no more than 6 hours before serving, but there's no way I could take it on as an early morning project, so I did it about 9 at night, and put the apple hearts in a lidded container, and refrigerated them. I also placed some plastic wrap over the apples, and then further reduced air space by 'padding' with some clean plastic bags between the top of the plastic wrap and the lid. (Oxidation is what makes apples turn brown.) There was a touch of browning on the white side of the apples, but it was minimal. The apples were kept cold, and served in the morning. My son said the kids liked 'em. (Candy is dandy, but it's dandier still to bring it home and eat it in front of brothers and sisters ;-)

This project will create some apple 'scrap material', which can be snacked on right after making the Hearts, and/or you can dip larger pieces in the Fruit Fresh/juice, wrap and save until next day. The 'side pieces' remaining after you cut the 'face' off the apple are sizeable chunks, and well worth a moment to cut and save. Smaller chunks can be chunked further, and added to fruit salad. We didn't have significant waste.