Get ready for a simple and delicious vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting recipe, but first– we need to give you some context!

Mini’s Cupcakes in Salt Lake City, Utah was the first-ever bakery in the Salt Lake Valley to specialize in gourmet cupcakes. We loved visiting Mini’s to sample as many of their delicious, miniature cupcakes as humanly possible, and were sad to see them close their doors. Owner and Cupcake Wars winner Leslie Fiet has kindly allowed us to share a recipe from her cookbook, Mini Cupcakes.

Vanilla Cupcake With Cream Cheese Frosting

The cookbook and bakery both boast(ed) so many fantastic flavors, all prepared with high-quality ingredients, but if we had to pick one favorite flavor, it would be the Audrey– a vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Made with a base of Mini’s Buttery Vanilla Cupcakes and Mini’s Cream Cheese Frosting, this cupcake is fairly straightforward yet flavorful and delicious– perfect for any sweet tooth craving!

The recipe is very straightforward. Mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately and then combine together. You’ll need 2-ounce souffle cups (commonly known as “nut cups”) for these miniature cupcakes and a pastry bag with a generic round tip. Pipe the batter into the nut cups, and bake for 17 minutes. Let your cupcakes completely cool. The frosting is only three ingredients: cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla (lots of vanilla!). Once your cupcakes are cool and you’ve made the frosting, pipe to your heart’s content and add decorative sprinkles if you prefer. Enjoy!

SEE ALSO: 10 BEST BAKERIES IN SALT LAKE CITY

Mini's Cupcakes Vanilla Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

5 from 1 vote
Brooke Eliason
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Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 17 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
A delicious recipe for miniature cupcakes from Mini's Cupcakes in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ingredients 

Mini's Buttery Vanilla Cupcakes

  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup soybean oil*
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • 2 cups unbleached flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mini's Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • food coloring (optional)

Instructions

Mini's Buttery Vanilla Cupcakes

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F convection.** Place 30 souffle cups on a flat baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. Place an 18-inch pastry bag with tip inside a large cup with the outside edge hanging over. You will use this to fill the souffle cups with cupcake batter.
  • Place all wet ingredients including sour cream, buttermilk, applesauce, oil, butter, eggs, vanilla, and vanilla bean paste together in a mixing bowl. Mix on low speed with a wire whisk attachment for about 1 minute until all ingredients are blended.
  • Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl and stir with a spoon to combine.
  • Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and blend on low for 1 minute until combined. Batter will be lumpy but blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn mixer on high for 30 seconds; most of the lumps will disappear and small air bubbles will start to form.
  • Pour batter into prepared pastry bag, then carefully pick up bag and hold the tip upright to prevent the batter from spilling out. Fill the souffle cups half full.
  • Bake for 17 minutes. Cupcakes are done when you can apply light pressure to the top of the cupcake and it bounces back.

Mini's Cream Cheese Frosting

  • In a mixing bowl with a wire whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and vanilla for 3 to 4 minutes. Continually scrape down sides of bowl to ensure all cream cheese is creamy and well blended. Slowly add the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, to the mixture. If you are going to tint the frosting, add the food coloring about halfway through the powdered sugar addition. At Mini's they tinted their frosting for the Audrey robin egg blue. Mix in each addition of powdered sugar completely, as this will eliminate lumps. Scrape down the bowl often.

Assembly

  • After your cupcakes have cooled, use your piping bag to frost each cupcake and top with silver dragées, white nonpareils, and white sugar pearls.

Equipment

  • 30 soufflé cups or 2 oz. nut cups
  • 18-inch pastry bag with round tip

Notes

*You may substitute soybean oil for canola or vegetable oil. 
**This recipe was created using a convection oven. If you are using a regular baking oven without a convection setting, your baking time may be longer by as much as 5 to 10 minutes. 
Note: the recipe doesn't require spraying the paper cups before adding the batter, but lightly greasing before dividing batter between cups will help prevent sticking. 

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