Craft #2 - Baby Cupcakes

I spied these little baby cupcakes a few weeks ago on Bakerella's blog. I knew I had to make them; it was just a matter of when. I decided a purse party would be the perfect venue - a *super* girly night, just eight days before Valentine's day.

I tried to take a bunch of pictures throughout the process. I numbered the photos; so look for the little (numbers) throughout the instructions to reference the appropriate picture.

Baby Cupcakes
From Bakerella
Ingredients (1)
1 box Red Velvet cake mix (bake as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) - Available at Super Target; it was not at Cub or Lunds.
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (or candy melts for cupcake bottom)
Colored Candy Melts (for cupcake top) - I bought these from Michaels
Candy Mold, in the shape of a Reese's mini - I also bought this from Michaels
Sprinkles and M&Ms for decoration

Directions:
After cake has baked and cooled completely, use a fork (2) to crumble into large bowl (3). (The texture should be fine/fluffy) TIP: If the texture is too coarse, you can run it through a food processor.

Add can of cream cheese frosting and blend together using the back of a large spoon. Blend thoroughly. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)

Roll mixture into 1.25" - 1.5" size balls (4) (make sure they are smaller in diameter than that of your candy mold) and lay on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (I periodically rinsed and dried my hands in between; it gets kind of sticky.)

Put the balls in a tupperware container or cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for several hours. (I let them chill overnight) TIP: You can speed this up by placing in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Melt chocolate bark in microwave per directions on package. Using a spoon or squeeze bottle (5), fill each mold cavity with a small amount of chocolate. I didn't measure, but it was enough to go around the edges and coat the bottom of the mold. As soon as you fill the cavity, place one of your rolled balls into it. Carefully push it down until the force causes the chocolate to push up and fill in around the sides of the ball. (You may have to experiment with a couple to get the right amount.) Stop pushing once the chocolate reaches the top edge. (6)

Place the mold tray filled with cupcakes in the freezer for just a few minutes to let the chocolate set. Remove, then gently pull up on the cake ball top to release from candy mold. (7)

Melt the candy melts in the microwave according to the directions on the package. Holding the bottom of the cupcake, dip the top in another color of melted chocolate (8). Decorate. I used pink and white candy melts (9 & 10), various sprinkles and Valentine's day M&Ms.

I set them out on a tray for the party (11) and enjoyed the treats. (12)

The recipe makes about 50 baby cupcakes; I yeilded 60 from my batch. Store in an airtight container and they will last for several days.

Notes: I had expected this project to be SUPER time consuming. And while they did take a some time, it wasn't nearly as tedious as I expected. Also, I was a little nervous they would turn out sloppy and look nothing like cupcakes; thankfully this didn't happen either and everyone seemed to really enjoy them.