Mini Pink Almond Cupcakes

A friend of mine is due to have her first little girl, after 2 boys, this week.  Oh to be at the end of your pregnancy.  Totally jealous right now. 

Another friend and I decided she most definitely needed to have a baby shower to welcome this little princess. 

With my love for baking I happily agreed to handle all of the food.  With my issue with portion control I planned WAY too much food and had a lot leftover.

However, these Mini Pink Almond Cupcakes were gone in a flash and for good reason.  

These mini cupcakes are made using a mini-muffin pan so they are the perfect bite size cupcakes for someone watching their diet or when there is a buffet of foods and desserts to choose from.  

These tiny cupcakes are absolutely adorable and have the most amazing almond flavoring.  The frosting on these cute little things is amazingly delicious.  

I LOVE the almond frosting, and if you are a big fan of frosting you may want to double the frosting recipe so you have plenty of frosting goodness b/c this recipe will give you just enough.  I also highly suggest the sugar pearls for a little extra cupcake wow and bling.  

These Mini Pink Almond Cupcakes are delicious, cute, and my absolute favorite cupcakes.  Seriously.   

Mini Pink Almond Cupcakes

Recipe: Alohamora adapted from Cake Merchant

Active Time: 30 minutes

Inactive Time: 15 minutes and cooling time (at least a few hours or make ahead)

Servings: 24 mini cupcakes

Ingredients: 

For the Cake

3/4 c. cake flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 c. and 1 Tbs sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c. butter, softened and cut into chunks

1/3 c. milk (I used fat-free)

2 egg whites

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 drops of pink food coloring (I used Wilton's Rose)

For the Frosting

10 Tbsp butter, softened

11/2 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1 drop of pink food coloring

Sugar pearls or sprinkles (optional)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Grease or use mini-cupcake liners into a 24 mini-cupcake pan. 
3. In a stand mixer or a medium bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt together. 
4. With your mixer on low speed add the softened butter to the flour mixture one chunk at a time until the butter flour mixture resembles large moist crumbs.
5. In a small bowl or glass measuring cup whisk the milk, egg whites, almond extract, and vanilla extract until it is well combined.  
6. With the mixer on low add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix it until well combined. 
7. Add the food coloring and mix for less than a minute or until the food coloring is thoroughly combined. 
8. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure your cupcake batter is smooth. 
9. Using a small or medium cookie scoop fill the cupcake liners no more than 3/4 full to evenly distribute the batter.
10. Bake the cupcakes at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted into cupcakes comes out clean.  11 minutes was my magic number.
11. Let the cupcake pan cool for at least 15 minutes before taking the cupcakes out and letting them finish cooling on a wire rack.  Making the cupcakes a day before is a great way to manage your time.  
12. Cupcakes should be completely cool before frosting. 
13. For the frosting, beat the butter with a mixer on medium high speed until it is light and creamy.  It should take 2-3 minutes. 
14. Add the powder sugar to the butter and beat on low until it is just combined, and then turn the mixer up to medium and continue to beat for a few more minutes. 
15. Add the almond, vanilla, and salt to the frosting and beat it until it is well combined.  
16. Finally, add one drop of food coloring, or use a toothpick and dunk it in your pink food coloring and then dunk it into the frosting.  Then mix the frosting until the food coloring is thoroughly combined. 
17. To assemble the cupcakes, use a decorating tip and a frosting bag.  You can also use a spatula, but a tip is a lot easier and looks a lot better.  I used the Wilton 1M tip and frosted the cupcakes by simply starting the frosting in the middle and slowly moved up as I let more frosting out.   It makes a simple star.  
18. Use sugar pearls to easily and simply decorate the frosting on the cupcakes.  
19. Enjoy! 
20. Store leftover cupcakes in a sealed container on the counter.  

Happy Mini Pink Almond Cupcake eating whether that is for a little girl's birthday party or a baby shower.