“It is a truth universally acknowledged that… ”  Can you name the novel?  The author?  Complete the sentence?  I knew that I had entered complete and total nerdom when I once *paid* to attend a lecture where ever single person in the room chimed in to complete that very sentence.

ANYHOW, that’s neither here nor there, its just that when I sat down to write this post, all I could think to say was, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that whenever we take something normal-sized and shrink it, all of us ladies swoon and proclaim the micro-sized thing, “Sooooooooo ADORABLE!”  Such is the case with mini-cupcakes.  If you make them for Mother’s Day this Sunday, their cuteness might just make you fall down on the floor :-)

Start with fun cupcake liners – available at any local craft store, include fresh ingredients (strawberries or limes for the versions below), shrink them to mini-size, and you have the world’s cutest and most delicious Mother’s Day Dessert! :-)

Chocolate Strawberry Mini Cupcakes (cupcakes from Family Circle April 2012 issue; frosting is Amy’s own recipe)

Ingredients
Cupcakes
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting
4 Tbsp softened butter (for the cupcakes Amy changed this and used 2 TBS butter and 2 TBS cream cheese)
4 cups confectioner’s sugar (may need to add more)
6 ripe strawberries

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line indents of two 12-cup mini cupcake pans with paper or foil liners.
2. Cupcakes. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a second medium-size bowl, combine butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute. Add egg and beat until combined. On low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, then all the milk, followed by remaining flour mixture. Beat in vanilla extract.
3. Spoon evenly into prepared liners. Bake at 350 degrees F for 17 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks.
4. Frosting. Whip butter in mixer, add 2 cups powdered sugar and mix on low, add strawberries and whip well so strawberries are mashed in well.  Then add 2 more cups powdered sugar, mix in well.  Add more powdered sugar until icing is thick enough to pipe on cupcakes.

Key Lime Mini Cupcakes (cupcakes and frosting from Family Circle magazine, April 2012)

Ingredients
Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup Key lime or traditional lime juice
Amy says to add lime zest – I must agree!

Frosting
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon Key lime juice
Again, Amy says to add lime zest and her results speak for themselves!

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line indents of two 12-cup mini cupcake pans with paper or foil liners.
2. Cupcakes. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a second medium-size bowl, combine butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium-high for 1 minute. Add egg and beat until combined. On low, beat in half the flour mixture, then the Key lime juice, followed by remaining flour mixture.
3. Spoon evenly into prepared liners. Bake at 350 degrees F for 17 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks.
4. Frosting. In a small bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, butter and Key lime juice. Beat until smooth. Spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes.

**By the way, the quote is: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, first line**