OOOH Baby I Love your Way

I'm a sucker for all things miniature; from small plates and teacups, to tiny muffins and bite-sized quiche the smaller the better in my opinion. Not only do I just find these things plain old adorable (the same way one might find a teacup pig wayyy cuter than an adult pig), but the petite size makes things easier to store and share. 

In the spirit of all things tiny and cute, I decided to christen my new kitchen with these baby- sized individual cakes! A wee bit larger than a cupcake, but not so big that you should feel guilty about eating the whole thing yourself ( See: https://gph.is/28SKWS5 ). 

Here's how you can make them too! 

Ingredients

Cake:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/4 cups sugar

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk at room temperature

• Food dye ( I use Wilton concentrated gel colors, which you can buy at Michaels)

Icing

• 1 (8-ounce) package brick style cream cheese, softened to room temperature

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray your baby spring-form round cake pans with baking spray. I only have one if you're in the same boat, you'll have to repeat this for each cake. 

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl until combined. Beat 2 sticks butter and the sugar in a large bowl with a mixer until light and fluffy, then reduce the mixer speed and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with flour, until just smooth.

Divide the batter into as many bowls as you want different colors. Add a few drops of the concentrated dye to each bowl using a different spoon and stir until it's the desired color. 

Pour into prepared pan, one color at a time right on top of each-other. It should look like this <---

Bake until the cakes are lightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

Transfer to racks and let cool 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pans and turn the cakes out onto the racks to cool completely. Stick in fridge. 

When you're ready to ice, trim the tops of the cakes with a long serrated knife to level and cut each cake in half long-ways for stacking. 

For the icing:

Beat the cream cheese until smooth with a hand-mixer or kitchen aid if you're lucky. Add the butter and mix until well combined. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue mixing until fully combined.

Now you ice! Using a dull knife or spatula spread the frosting on the top of each layer, stacking until you reach the desired height. Frost the tops and edges, smoothing as you see fit. I like mine with a bit of cake showing. Decorate as you wish! 

But seriously, how cute are these babies! I can't get enough, but will definitely be investing in another tiny pan to make my life a bit easier.