Yesterday, I experimented with two versions of mini-cupcakes. These are some seriously sweet (and seriously easy) treats to whip up and enjoy. From start to finish, you’re looking at about an hour’s worth of effort to end up with 48 yummy, joyful little cupcake buddies.
Both cupcakes start with the same basic batter, a simple vanilla cake. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Easy Vanilla Cake Batter
Ingredients:
1/3 cup softened butter
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
Cream butter. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; gradually add dry mixture to butter. Add half of the milk and the egg; beat until flour is moistened. Add the remaining milk and vanilla; continue to beat until batter reaches a creamy consistency (about one minute).
With a bowl of this basic batter, you can now put together your duo of cupcakes. You’ll use half the batter for each type.
Let’s start with the brown sugar-cream cheese cupcakes.
Brown Sugar-Cream Cheese Cupcakes
Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese (I used a whipped cream cheese, which gave the icing a great, creamy texture)
2 tbsp. softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. honey
6 tbsp. light brown sugar (this may be too sweet for some, or not sweet enough for others–subtract or add 2 tbsp. of brown sugar per your personal taste)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat until mixture becomes creamy and light (a minute or two depending on mixing speed).
Fill mini-cupcake liners or mini-muffin cups (I used a Pampered Chef nonstick mini-muffin pan, which worked beautifully) half full of vanilla cake batter. Bake for 9 minutes (cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean). Let cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Top with icing. Refrigerate any leftover icing immediately.
The cake part remains light and moist, and the icing adds a kick of pure, unadulterated sweetness with just a hint of cream cheese flavor.
Now for the second cake-y act …
Praline Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans, plus extra (chopped or whole, depending on your preference) for topping
Directions:
Combine butter and brown sugar; set aside.
Before filling muffin cups, add 1/2 cup of chopped pecans to the vanilla cake batter; stir well. Fill muffin cups/cupcake liners half-full of cake batter (again, I used the handy mini-muffin pan). Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven. Spoon butter and brown sugar mixture over the tops of cupcakes. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top (or place one whole pecan on top of each cupcake–whichever you prefer). Bake an additional two minutes. Allow to cool on a rack for 15 minutes before serving.
The brown sugar-butter mixture melts kinda crazily on these, but the taste is out of this world. These were my favorites of the two; they really do taste like pralines!
I hope you try and enjoy both varieties!
