Giving in to the Cupcake Craze with Bite-size Goodness!

Has anyone else noticed that cupcake mania has consumed our country? No longer are cupcake consumers relegated to the sad looking cupcakes in the plastic containers at the grocery store topped with inedible wannabe buttercream frosting and sprinkles or tacky seasonal decorations. Instead, cupcakes of every imaginable flavor are accessible topped with real-deal buttercream or cream cheese frosting.

I should preface this by saying that I got burned out on cupcakes by the end of middle school. It seemed like for every birthday of a student in the classroom, we were “treated” to cupcakes. Yellow cake cupcakes with bad chocolate frosting or dry chocolate cupcakes with boring and sad buttercream frosting.

So it took a lot for me to try a cupcake again and I was very skeptical.

Clearly, the cupcake has been due for an extreme makeover for quite a while.

Or at least it needed one before I could look at a cupcake again.

And I have to admit, I got swept up in the craze a couple years ago. As you may know, Washington, DC is home to the now famous-because-of-a-reality-tv-show, Georgetown Cupcake. I am a frequent consumer of their vanilla cupcake with the most glorious cream cheese frosting you could ever imagine.

A recent visit to Georgetown Cupcake prompted me to try to make my own cupcakes. After waiting in the car with our son while my husband braved a one hour wait in a neverending line for the goodness that is a Georgetown Cupcake, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. The Georgetown Cupcakes were absolutely delectable but sitting in the car for an hour with a little boy who is ready to go to bed and desperately wants his nighttime bottle and pajamas is not pretty and not fair to the Little Man! Before Davis, it wouldn't have been the end of the world to wait in line that long but life with a one-year-old changes these little luxuries.

I mean, what were we thinking? One hour for four cupcakes? Really? Were they that good?

Sadly, the answer is yes, they are that good.  However, the waiting game is definitely not practical most days in our life.

I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.  This is how I found myself making mini-vanilla mascarpone cupcakes with a strawberry glaze on a recent Saturday afternoon.  In fact, I served them as an extra dessert at Davis' birthday party as they are so good.

The recipe is very simple and the mascarpone cheese is definitely the secret weapon to keep the mini-cupcakes moist.  Plus, the addition of the strawberry glaze which tops the cupcake doesn't overwhelm the cake portion but adds a little tinge of sweetness.  The end result is 48 bites of cupcake goodness.  Yes, you can really eat the mini-cupcake in one bite, too.

I loved the idea of mini-cupcakes because as I found, I didn't feel as bad popping five mini-cupcakes in my mouth as I did eating two regular-size cupcakes.  In addition, if you serve these for a party, tea or even as a light dessert at a late morning/early afternoon brunch, they are easy to eat without creating a mess when you are trying to chat with folks.

The best part is these will take you approximately 30 minutes from start to your mouth.  As I found, preparing the mini-cupcakes in the comfort of my own home in less time and for less money than it costs to buy four Georgetown Cupcakes is a win-win situation.

Vanilla Mascarpone Strawberry Mini-Cupcakes
Makes 48 mini-cupcakes

For the mini-cupcakes:
8 oz mascarpone cheese, softened
2 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 box white cake mix
1 cup water

For the glaze:
1/3 cup frozen strawberries, unfrozen and strained
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Details:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Spray mini-muffin pan with cooking spray
*Combine mascarpone cheese, egg whites and vegetable oil in bowl of a standing mixer.
*Once blended, add in white cake mix and water.  Mix until smooth.
*Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the dough into the muffin pan.
*Bake for 18-30 mins.
*While cupcakes cook, puree strawberries in a food processor.
*Mix strawberry puree with the powdered sugar and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
*Once cupcakes are cool, dip the tops in the strawberry glaze.
 
Recipe courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis