Mini Cupcakes (recipe guest post by my friend Ignacia)

Pop-cake-like Mini Cupcakes

Ingredients

1. 3 eggs
2. ½ cup vegetable oil
3. 1-cup milk
4. 2/3-cup sugar
5. 1 ½ -cup flour
6. 1 Tbs baking power
7. ¾ cup 2 cocoa powder

You can substitute the cocoa for 2 Tbs vanilla extract OR 2 Tbs orange juice OR just skip it.

Mix and Pour

Mix the first 5 ingredients until they are dissolved (it is ok to over mix so you cannot be found guilty of using a mixer).

Add flour, baking powder and cocoa and mix until fairly smooth.

Pour into pan (I love silicone ones).

§  ¼ cup for cupcakes

§  1 Tbs for mini-cupcakes

Bake at 350 ºF

Cupcakes and layer cake: 20 minutes

Mini-cupcakes:  8 minutes (For mini cupcakes you do not need the pan; just use paper cups, wait until the oven is at 350ºF, pour the batter and put them in the oven quickly)

To make fun treats you can pop in Popsicle sticks (they seem safer than kebob sticks).

Decorate using you imagination
 

For the pictures I used vanilla frosting and one raisin for plain cake and frozen berries for chocolate cake.

For the base I used a shoebox lid cover in foil.

Blogger's note: These pictures are beautiful! My friend did a wonderful job, didn't she? Makes me hungry, though...

I want to say a big, big thank you to my dear friend Ignacia for contributing this post, especially since she knows I am way too lazy to do recipes in this blog (you know, all those pictures and all that cooking while trying to remember to take pictures). She even scouted out what recipes people search most often and came up with cupcakes. She's a good friend, mom and cook (a dynamic trio!), and I really hope she'll come back to inspire us again, not simply to eat, but to bake! Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go and drop by her house to see if any cupcakes are left...

Bon appetit!