Minion Cup Cakes

What is cooler than Friday the 13th with a full moon?  Well how about Friday the 13th, with a full moon and it being your birthday!!  That is exactly what happened to my middle daughter Paige.  June 13th happens to be her birthday and this year it fell on a Friday and it also happened to be a full moon as well.  She thought that this was the coolest thing ever, and how could it not.  She turned eight this year and all she wanted to do for her birthday was to go Go Kart Racing, yes, you heard me correctly, my little girl LOVES racing and has recently discovered a love for Go Karts.  It is an addiction that is in her blood.  She is very much her fathers daughter and racing just proves that even more.  She is the fourth generation of racers in our family and only the second female to race.  She has already scored two feature wins and three second place finishes this season.  She loved everything about racing just as much as her Daddy does. 

Unfortunately there happened to be a bad storm on this, her birthday and the race track had canceled racing for the night.  Paige was very heart broken and I felt bad for her.  She looked forward to racing on her birthday and was hoping to bring home another feature win, but it was not meant to be.  So we celebrated her birthday with another family tradition instead.

Every year for your birthday, the birthday kid gets to pick what they want for dinner and no one can complain about it.  It is the birthday kids favorite meal and they can have what ever they want.  In true Paige fashion, my little girl picked Taco's for dinner.  I never really have to wonder what her birthday dinner will be, she is pretty consistent in her dinner choice.  So we had Taco's for dinner and after that I had made her choice of birthday cake, or in this instants birthday cup cakes.  Paige had asked me to make her Minion cup cakes and like the amazing mom that I am, I happily agreed.  She was so excited for the cup cakes she could hardly wait till dinner was over to dig into them.  As you can see from her expression, she was ready to eat cake.

These cup cakes were really very simple and I have to admit that I had a lot of fun making them.  My sister was a big help as well.

Okay, so here is what you need:
1 box of your favorite cake mix (I used Pillsbury Devil Food Cake)
2 boxes of Twinkies
Black decorating icing
Butter cream frosting (directions below)
#3 decorating tip
Wilton Royal Blue Icing Color

 Butter Cream Frosting:
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
3-4 Tablespoons Milk

Make the cup cakes according to the directions.  The only change that I made, was instead of using oil, I used Applesauce instead.
 
To make the Butter cream frosting, you simple take 2 sticks of Unsalted room temperature butter and cream it in the mixer.  Next add 2 cups of Powdered Sugar, you can add more sugar if you like a sweeter icing.  Add the Vanilla and mix together, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure proper mixing.  Next add the milk one Tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency.  Save a small amount of this icing for the Minions eyes.  Mix the remaining amount of icing with a small amount of the Royal Blue color.  Be sure the mix this well, so that the color is even.

While the cup cakes are cooling, you can get started on the faces of your Minions.  To do this, I took a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and placed the Twinkies on it.  Then I took a knife and cut the Twinkies in half.  This will give you two Minions per Twinkies.  Next using the Black decorating Icing and the #3 tip, I drew on the faces of the Minions.  I then used the uncolored Butter Cream Icing and an additional #3 tip to give the Minions their eyes.  Have some fun with their faces.  I made some happy and others mad.  Paige got a kick out of this, because they did not all look the same.

Once the cup cakes were cooled, I took the Blue Butter Cream Icing and using an off set spatula, I frosted the cup cakes.  While I was doing this, my sister helped to place on Minion on each cup cake, giving each one a secure push to ensure they did not come off.  Once they were all iced and topped off, we set up our Minion army and presented to the Birthday girl.  She totally loved them and that made me one happy mom!