Mini Cupcakes: The Essential Kitchen Tools

Making mini cupcakes is easy; you can use the same batter recipes and decorating techniques that you would for larger cupcakes — you just need a few pieces of special equipment.

Mini Cupcake Baking Pan
There's no way around it: you can't make mini cupcakes unless you have the right pan. Regardless of how creative you get, you'll have a difficult time keeping the cupcake batter from spreading out if you use a larger pan. Even though the cupcakes are petite, look for a heavy pan; they tend to conduct heat more evenly.

Mini Cupcake Papers
Though you can make cupcakes without paper liners, using them makes clean up easier and presentation prettier. 

Oven Timer
You should be using a timer whenever you're baking, but make sure you have one handy for mini cupcakes; they cook very quickly and don't need to spend much time in the oven.

A Pastry Bag and Tip
You can frost miniature cupcakes with an offset spatula or knife, but if you have a pastry bag and a small tip, use them; they will make decorating quicker, easier, and cleaner. Simply squeeze a small amount of frosting through a round tip for the drop-like design shown in the picture above.

Petite Decorations
Small decorations like sanding sugar, nonpareils, and sprinkles work great for your tiny cakes, but mini cupcakes also look amazing with a garnish as simple as one fresh berry.

Kristie Collado is The Daily Meal's Cook Editor. Follow her on Twitter @KColladoCook.