Mini Snowball Cupcakes

“Today is my daughter’s birthday”. She said this as tears formed in her eyes. “I didn’t make her a cake. She asked about it, and I told her we were going to a party better than a cake at home”. The little girl was getting her face painted with a candy cane on her right cheek. She smiled sweetly. The mother then shared how much she loved to make cakes but with no work for her husband, she was unable to afford the ingredients for a cake. My heart broke as she shared with her voice bursting with a mixture of shame and sadness.

This was the very last conversation I had today at a wonderful Christmas part which was held for the families of children being helped by River Oak Center. I had gone with a desire to translate for those parents who are unable to speak English, whose primary language is Spanish. I love moments like these where my life here in the US collides with the language and people I learned to love.

These moments are made even better when those passions are also combined with my love of cooking and baking. These morsels of goodness were what I brought (even though I was asked to bring cookies!) to share at today’s party. They were a perfect size and had a perfect taste! What was even better was that they were so simple to make!

Mini Snowball Cupcakes

Eggnog Cupcakes
1 box of white or yellow cake mix
1 cup of eggnog
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting
6 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup of softened butter
1 1/2 of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3-4 tablespoons of eggnog
1 cup of flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. To prepare cupcakes, combine cake mix, eggnog, eggs, vanilla and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Mix on low until just combined, about 30 seconds. Mix on high about 2 minutes or until thoroughly combined. Divide batter evenly among mini cupcake holders, about 1 heaping teaspoon each. Bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven, cool 2 minutes in pan before transferring to cooling rack in order to cool completely.

3. To prepare frosting, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. Add 2 tablespoons of eggnog, mixing until frosting reaches dipping consistency; adding remaining eggnog 1 teaspoon at a time.

4. To assemble, dip tops of mini cupcakes into eggnog cream cheese frosting and immediately dip into coconut flakes. Set upright.