Vanilla Babycakes - CBC 6

I've been on a bit of a baking roll today.  I've been wanting to make cupcakes all week but just can't seem to muster the time through the week to whip a batch up, especially as we are now firmly back on our diets.  Then I was flicking through my copy of 'Cupcake Heaven' and spotted these little guys which seemed like the perfect compromise to me.  I purposely only made the one batch though, I know what we are like!

Vanilla Babycakes
60g unsalted butter, at room temp
60g vanilla caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g SR flour (!!!!)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk, room temp
Buttercream, for icing
12 smarties, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C, then line a mini cupcake tin with petit fours cases.  (If you don't have a mini cupcake tin, arrange the cases in a baking sheet; the cases should be able to cope with such a small amount of mixture.)

Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy, then beat in the egg, a little at a time.  Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in, then stir in the vanilla extract and milk.

Spoon the mixture into the petits fours cases, then bake in the preheated oven for about 15 mins until risen and golden and the tops spring back when gently pressed.  transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To decorate, pipe small rosettes of buttercream onto the mini cupcakes and top them off with a smartie placed in the center.

Makes 12
Adapted from Cupcake Heaven

The plan was that if I made little cupcakes then we could still have a treat and they wouldn't be as bad for us.  In reality we've just eaten more of them because they are so small.  Oh dear!