Adorable! Adorable! Adorable! It echoed through my head when I was assembling these cuties. Because they are really as cute as a bunch of new-born rabbits.

These mini cakes are not anything new to my kitchen. I’ve made a regular-sized short cake before. I was just inspired to create these pretty petite cakes to impress my kids or to make myself happy. I don’t know. Either way, it was a great success.

Ingredients (12 cupcakes):

Vanilla Sponge Cake

3 large eggs, room temperature, separated

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 cup cake flour, sifted

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 cup chopped strawberries

Others

1/2 cup sliced strawberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a muffin tin or lined with muffin liners.

In a bowl of a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Scrape the meringue in another bowl. Set aside.

In the same mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar on high speed until thick and light in colour, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Mix for another minute.

Sift flour and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over top of egg yolk mixture, followed by folding in half of the meringue.

Fold the rest of the meringue into the batter until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake comes out clean. Let cool completely.

To prepare whipped cream, beat heavy cream with powdered sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Divided the whipped cream in half. Gently fold in chopped strawberries into one half. Place 2 whipped creams in the fridge to chill.

When ready to assemble, slice the cake in half horizontally. Pipe or smear the strawberry whipped cream on the bottom half. Gently top it with the top half. Pipe or smear the plain whipped cream on top. Garnish with sliced strawberries.

Repeat with the remaining cakes. Refrigerate before serving.