Black and White Mini Cupcakes

Did you guys know my momma is part of a local digital photography club?

Of course you didn't. Because I never told you, and you don't know my momma.

Anyway, they had a showcase this past weekend, and they provided free food in order to lure people in. They were supposed to bring finger foods, so my mom volunteered to bring mini cupcakes. And guess who actually did the baking of the cupcakes?

It shouldn't be that hard to guess, since this is a baking blog, and the cupcakes are pictured above.

I suggested the idea of black and white cupcakes (since it was a photography showcase. Black and white cupcakes, like black and white photography, get it?), and my mom loved the idea, so I went with a dark chocolate cake (with a couple drops of black food coloring- the cake is dark enough you don't need much) and a vanilla frosting. I sprinkled them with some black nonpareils I had chilling out in my massive collection of sprinkles, et voila, black and white mini cupcakes!

Except, I think I kind of went too high concept with the idea of black and white cupcakes. Nobody really got it. My mom made a point of telling people they were black and white cupcakes and got no reaction. My dad said there was a guy talking about black and white photography, and he started eating a cupcake, and he didn't make the connection. *le sigh* I mean, it's a photography club. They should be creative types, right? I thought they'd get it. (And there were still most of them left after I got there an hour into the showcase. I am not used to this. Of course, I sent her off with almost 4 dozen, so there is that.)

Anyway, on to the technical parts: the cake is sooper yumtastic. I got the recipe off of Hershey's Kitchens, I just added a little instant coffee to really bring out that chocolate flavor, and I used vanilla bean paste instead of extract because... I'm not completely sure where that ended up, (hashtag movingproblems) and it kind of tasted like the cookie part of an Oreo. Except it wasn't a cookie, it was cake. The vanilla frosting is also reminiscent of Oreo filling, and it's seriously good.

Now, the batter is really easy to bring together (I didn't even need my mixer, just a bowl and a whisk), but it's also really liquidy. So if the cupcakes overflow, it's kind of a disaster. Normally with mini cupcakes, I use one cookie scoop (about 1 tablespoon) of batter, and that's fine. For these, one tablespoon was way too much, and they overflowed and baked onto the tin and it wouldn't come out of the tin and I was just left with cupcake carnage. So if you use this to make mini cupcakes, use only 2 teaspoons of batter per cupcake.

But I wouldn't really suggest using it to make mini cupcakes, because it makes a buttload. Seriously. I think I got about 8 dozen, but I lost count around 5 dozen, and I got fed up towards the end (because I only have one mini cupcake tin that only holds 12 cupcakes) and just used the rest of the batter to make a mini cake. So, not really the best batter for making mini cupcakes. But a layer cake or regular cupcakes? Or jumbo cupcakes? Oh yeah, this cake is awesome.

Totally and completely unrelated: what should one do with a buttload of leftover mini cupcakes (sans frosting)? Asking for a friend...

Black and White Mini Cupcakes
Yield: Approximately 8 dozen mini cupcakes

Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1¾ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. instant coffee
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or 2 tsp. vanilla extract)
A few drops black food coloring
1 cup boiling water

For the frosting:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup solid white vegetable shortening (Crisco)
3½ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
Pinch salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the first 7 ingredients, until well mixed. Add the milk, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, and mix until well integrated (some lumps are fine). Add the food coloring and mix until the color is even (repeat if necessary to achieve the desired shade). Add the boiling water and mix until smooth (the batter will be very thin).

Line a mini muffin tin with liners (foil works best, but paper is fine), and fill with maximum 2 teaspoons of batter (do not overfill). Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently pressed. Allow to cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

For the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with electric beaters, beat the butter and shortening on medium speed until smooth. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla bean paste and salt. Gradually increase the speed to high, and whip until light and fluffy.

Cake recipe adapted from Hershey's Kitchens. Frosting recipe by Kim

And a quarter for scale...