Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

I adore cream cheese frosting.  In my opinion, there is no better frosting out there.  So when Corey asked me to make red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's day I quickly agreed!  I decided to make them in mini form since I got a mini cupcake tin for Christmas this year and knew they would be perfect to bring into work.  I made a normal batch of cupcakes (that yields 12) and got 48 mini cupcakes out of it!  That way everyone felt a lot less guilty about eating 2 or 3!  I stuffed the icing in a plastic baggie and cut off one of the corners and used that as a piping bag, it worked perfect to get the icing on the tiny cupcakes.

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

adapted from my Vanilla Cupcakes

yeilds 48 mini cupcakes (or 12 regular size)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons cocoa powder

1 cup milk

red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder.  Stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Add red food coloring until desired red color.  Divide among 48 mini (or 12 standard) lined cupcake tins.

Bake for 12 to 20 minutes in preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted, comes out clean.  Note: I started checking them at 12 minutes, since the mini are so much smaller, they cooked much faster. Place on a rack to cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

yields plenty frosting for 12 standard cupcakes

via Simply Recipes

 

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature

8 oz of cream cheese (1 package), room temperature

2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Cream together the butter and cream cheese, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness and thickness.  I used between 2 - 2 1/2 cups.  Use less for stronger cream cheese taste and more for sweeter icing.