Mini Cupcakes

The problem with it only being EC, Petey, and I is that whenever I make a cake, there is always WAY too much for the three of us, especially since Petey only likes dairy, not cake. So when I had to make my final cake for class, I still had way too much batter, so I made mini cupcakes, because I believe most things are cute in miniature form: cats, cakes, cupcakes, dogs, children, etc. But then I was left with the dilemma of what to do with these cupcakes.

Luckily for me, "rent" was due at work - which means I give a baked good to my coworker and she takes care of a plant for me, this is the only way that I can get a plant to stay alive - and one of my other coworkers was especially helpful in a stressful situation at work, so I took these little guys to work with me and gave them to two well deserving people.

These cupcakes have taught me that I need to buy purple food coloring because my red and blue don't mix very nicely.

Marbled Cake

From MarthaStewart.com

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
1 3/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup best-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder, for mocha layers

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter pans; line with parchment paper. Butter lining; dust with flour, tapping out excess. Set aside. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Combine milk and cream in a small bowl; set aside. Cream butter and sugar on medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time; mix well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk mixture and beginning and ending with flour.
Combine cocoa and the boiling water in a medium bowl; for mocha cake, add espresso powder. Stir in 1 cup cake batter.
Fill prepared pans with spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate batter to form a checkerboard pattern. Run the tip of a paring knife or a wooden skewer through batter in a figure-eight motion to make swirls. Bake until tops are golden, and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cakes cool completely in pans on wire racks.