Mini Cupcakes 3 ways - Elizabeth

For a long time,  I've been very unimpressed with cupcakes. One could even call me anti-cupcake. Mostly I have a problem with the cake to frosting ratio & the fact that you usually get a mouthful of one or the other. Not to mention the trend of overly-decorated fondant cupcakes.

However, mini cupcakes are a great solution to these problems. Their tiny size fixes the frosting/cake ratio problem & cream cheese frosting blocks out any other negative associations.

Yesterday I made nearly 100 of these little guys, although the recipes would probably make about 25 each with a mini muffin pan. Without the pan they had to be very small, otherwise the batter would run over the sides of the paper cups.

I made:
Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting
Lemon with Cream Cheese Frosting
Snickerdoodle with Cinnamon Frosting

The cream cheese frosting was definitely the best - the cinnamon frosting was mostly butter & sugar & it didn't hold together very well. However, it was still delicious.

There's a lot of recipes, so they're under a cut [after all the pictures]. Enjoy!!














Mini Red Velvet Cup Cakes
An adaptation

Ingredients
1 1/4 C. Flour
1 1/2 t. Cocoa powder
1/4 t. Salt
½ C. Sugar
½ C. Butter
1 Large eggs
1/2 t. Red gel-paste food color
1/2 t. Vanilla extract
1/3 C. Buttermilk
½ t. Baking soda
1 t. Distilled white vinegar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini muffin tins with paper liners.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla. Add flour, cocoa powder and buttermilk slowly and alternate a bit at a time until incorporate. (if you don’t have buttermilk, add about 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the milk and let stand for 5 minutes)

Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.

Using a small ice cream scoop, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, use a piping bag with a star tip to frost each of the cupcakes. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Lemon Cupcakes
An adaptation

Ingredients
1 c flour
½ t powder
pinch salt
1 ½ t lemon juice
1/3 c milk
1/2 c butter
½ c sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 egg whites

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin time with liners. Sift flour, baking powder and salt.

With an electric mixer cream butter unit smooth. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add flower mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk. Beat unit just combined, add in lemon juice and zest.

In a separate bowl of an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Be careful to not over mix. Fold egg whites into batter in three batches.

Divide batter into lined cups, filling two thirds of the way up. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating having way through. Transfer to to wire racks and let cool completely.


Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
½ C. Butter
½ C. Shortening
1 t. Vanilla
1 (12 oz) package cream cheese
1 lb. Confectioners sugar

Directions
Bring the butter and cream cheese to room temperature. In a stand up mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat for 15 seconds. Slowly incorporate the confectioner’s sugar until the entire amount is combined. Beat until fluffy – for about 3 to 5 minutes. Use a piping bag and star tip to decorate each mini cupcake.

Snickerdoodle mini cupcakes
From 375 Degrees

Ingredients
1/4 cup
1/4 cup
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Sift together flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add in the egg, beat until just combined
Add in vanilla, beat until just combined
Add flour mixture in 3 instances, alternating with 2 additions of milk
Divide the batter evenly in mini-muffin tin
Bake 5 to 7 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean

Cinnamon Frosting

Ingredients
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups of sifted powdered sugar, divided into two
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons of milk
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy
Sift half of the powdered sugar into the bowl. Add vanilla and milk. Beat until well-combined.
Gradually add the remaining sugar and the cinnamon until you get the consistency/sweetness desired.
Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.