The Cupcake Recipe and some new ideas are swirling!!!

Thank you to those of you who kindly went over to Kathy's blog to read my guest post!  I had a lot of fun writing it and I'm glad so many people felt that they got something out of it!

I'll be honest...the moxie is a bit...how do I say this?.....perhaps shaded today.  You know that fun bug that is going around?  Yeah...that one that makes it so you can't really breath much and your nose is all yuck and you feel like your head is stuffed with fuzz?  Yup.  That one?  I've got it.  I can thank The Hubbums for that one, as he has been suffering with it for a week now.  Although, he SWEARS he didn't give it to me - I stole it.  HA!  Anyway...it's making me tired and lethargic, but I still have lots of ideas swimming, I just can't do a dang thing about them at the moment! LOL!

However, we did take a WONDERFUL trip to the MFA on Saturday and I had SO much fun!  That place is so full of amazing!!!  That is seriously one of the best things about living in Mass - we are so close to so many great museums!  I got a couple of great doll ideas as well as some fun mixed media ideas!  I can't wait to get started on some of them!!!

I also got the bug to start something I've never tried before.  Actually, I've been down right afraid of it.  But then I just decided to just TRY IT!  I fused plastic!  Very cool - more on that tomorrow.  I hope.




A few of you asked for the recipe for my Chili Chocolate Dulce De Leche cupcakes, so I wanted to post that for you today!


I like to approach baking a lot like creating, so I didn't really have the recipe written down, but I think I can give it to you as I made it this time fairly easily.


Ingredients:


Cupcakes


1. Box Devil's Food Cake Mix (yes, I doctor mixes. It saves me time and the brain power of doing chemistry while I bake.)
2. All of the ingredients listed on the box. (You can replace the oil with apple sauce if you would like!)
3. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
4. 1 teaspoon chili powder (actually, if I did this again I would probably do 1 1/2 or even 2 for more kick)
5. 1/2 (ish) teaspoon Allspice
6. (I didn't adde Cayanne pepper to this batch, you can toss in some of that, too, if you want a bit more heat.)
7. I can Dulce de Leche (Nestles) - I got mine at WalMart and not even the Super kind, just an old school WalMart, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding it. It may be with 'ethnic' foods if you are in the grocery store, as it is a product of Chile.) You can make your own using a can of sweetened condensed milk, but I didn't have that kind of time on my hands. Just say'n.


Frosting


1 can Whipped Chocolate Frosting (Yup...I doctor those, too.) If you would prefer to use your favorite chocolate frosting recipe feel free to do so.
1 teaspoon (ish) cinnamon
Dulce De Leche left from the opened can




Instructions:


1. Mix the ingredients including all of the spices and the items on the mix box together with an electric mixer to blend well. Do not add the Dulce de leche yet.


2. Place cupcake liners in two cupcake pans (recipe makes about 24 cupcakes). You can use Halloween ones like I did or be boring and use regular ones. HA! (Yeah, I was totally out of the regular ones! LOL!)


3. Fill each liner about 3/4 the way full of the mix.


4. Using a spoon put a dollop of dulce de leche in each cupcake. You want to leave this pretty much on the top, as it will sink during baking. Also, these should be about a tsp or so - not huge, but not so small that it will go unnoticed. The more you use the more likely it will fall to the bottom, so just keep an eye on your portions.


5. Bake according to the box instructions (350 for about 20 minutes or so).


While those are baking you can mix the frosting:


1. Add the cinnamon to the frosting mix and blend well.


Once the cupcakes are done allow them to cool completely before frosting.


1. Frost the cupcakes with the mexican chocolate frosting.


2. Place a small amount of Dulce De Leche in a ramekin and heat for 30 seconds. Watch it, as it may not take that long and you want to stop the microwave as soon as you know it has melted a bit. You will know because it will start to pop and such. You want to take it out pretty quickly unless you really enjoy cleaning burnt sugar caramel off the top of your microwave. Just say'n.


3. Use a spoon to carefully place a small 'coin' of dulce de leche on the top of each cupcake. You need to work fairly quickly, so you may want to do small amounts, as the caramel will harden again as you work.


Enjoy them!!!!


I hope you all have a super fabulous day!!! AND...I hope I can breath tomorrow.


Just say'n.