Mini CupCakes

i adore miniature things. anything that is smaller that its suppose to be - i will love it! miniature boxes that you can't even begin to imagine putting anything in, glass figurines, sets of playing cards, vases, plants, people (other than babies - they scare me) really i love small things. who doesn't like miniature things? i mean who doesn't say "oh my god that is sooooo cute!" and then pick it up just to compare it to their palm every time they see one of those miniature baby running shoes. we all love small things that aren't suppose to be small - face it.

so with this understood why have i not thought of mini cupcakes before? i can not answer this. but they are genius. sometimes you just don't feel like eating an entire cupcake, but you know you can't just can eat half and "save it for later". eh, so instead eat two mini cupcakes and be done with it. the other great thing is that you can mix and match flavors half way through your delinquently glutenous rendezvous with this manna from my kitchen (yes i had to spell check all three of those words).

as you can see i made some plain ole' vanilla and then took the remaining batter and transformed it into chocolate. ahhh yes. then topped it off with an organic vanilla bean classic buttercream - done the authentic way. you can see the little black pods in the picture. and honestly the chocolate is the keeper on this one. so because i am lazy - i will only give you the recipe for the chocolate. if you must have the vanilla, all you have to do is subtract the cocoa and the coffee and you got it.

MINI CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

1 1/3c flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1/4 c dutch processed cocoa

2 tbs coffee

3/4c sugar

2 1/2 oz butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1c buttermilk

* preheat oven to 350 F, line your mini cupcake pan your paper cups

* sift all of the dry ingredient together

* in a separate bowl cream the butter and the sugar

* beat in the egg and vanilla

* beat in the 1/3 of the dry ingredient, then 1/2 of the buttermilk - repeat until all is incorporated, ending on the dry ingredients.

* pour into your prepared pan and cook for 13-16 minutes. check it with a toothpick

VANILLA BEAN BUTTERCREAM

8 oz butter, soft & cubed

1/2 c sugar

2 tbs water

3 egg whites

pinch cream of tatar

1/2 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

* beat eggs until soft peaks are beginning to form, slowly add in 2 tbs sugar and the cream of tartar.

* continue to beat the eggs until shiny and stiff

* in a small pot combine the remaining sugar and the water.

* heat over medium high flame to boiling. insert your candy thermometer and monitor until it reaches 245 - 250F.

* immediately take off the heat

* with the mixer on, slowly pour the hot syrup in the egg whites

* continue to beat until the temperature has gone down to room temp.

* begin dropping in the butter one cube at a time - beating well between each addition.

* the mixture will look really bad for a while - trust me keep beat it and it will all come together.

* scrape out the vanilla pods with the back of a knife and drop into the mixture, beat to combine.

* pipe onto your cakes!