Dinky Desserts

I used to do a fair amount of pet sitting, and one of my favorite clients was a cat named Sneaky. I love all felines, but what made Sneaky particularly irresistible was her petite form: though she was almost 20 years old, this little, black ball of fluff was the size of a few-weeks-old kitten. ADORABLE!

Scientists say humans are programmed to find tiny things appealing. It may be because they remind us of infants, and activate our natural care-giving impulses. Or it could be because they make us feel powerful, or encourage us to be playful. Whatever. I just know that tiny things make me happy. And when the tiny thing is a dessert … well, I'm doubly delighted!

Creating bite-sized sweets can be fun and surprisingly simple, especially when they're made with easy mixes like Tastefully Simple's pound cake mixes. Recently I spent an afternoon "playing" with the mixes to whip up several itty-bitty desserts that were small in size, but BIG in deliciousness:



"Neopolitan" Mini Bundt Cakes. To fill my tiny bundt cake pan, I used all three of Tastefully Simple's pound cake mixes (Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix^TM, Classy Chocolate Pound Cake Mix and Sunny Lemon^TM Pound Cake & Icing Mix). Pretty darned cute, huh?



Peach Raspberry Cookie Cups. Tiny cream pies made from a sugar cookie crust and deliciously fresh Peach Raspberry Cheese Ball Mix whipped cream make a sweet and dainty treat.



Li'l Layer Cakes. I love the Silicone Bar Pan for making mini versions of all my favorite baked goods. For these tiny cakes, I sliced miniature pound cake loaves vertically, then stacked alternating four layers of Classy Chocolate Pound Cake and Absolutely Almond Pound Cake. For filling between the layers, I used hazelnut spread and Creamy Caramel Sauce. Decadent? Maybe. But just a little.

The best part about giving desserts the shrinky-dink treatment may just be that there's less guilt in enjoying them. After all, these little treats don't have room for calories … do they?

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