Mexican Chocolate Pancakes

So for a few weeks ago I was shocking my children with what they call " exotic breakfasts'", I am

not a big morning person so it takes me a minute to jumpstart my day.

That usually does not leave me with the desire to prepare an all inclusive

"gourmet" breakfast for my chicas so early in the morning. I have to

admit that I did love the great big smiles on their faces when they

pulled their chairs up  to a plato stacked high with Red Velvetina
Pancakes or dunking their forks into a dripping heap of Mexican Chocolate French Toast.  This is probably the reason why on the first weekend of their summer vacation I

was compelled to start them of with something equally yummy and made

them these Mini Mexican Chocolate Pancakes.  This time when I called

them for breakfast the look on their faces wasn't a perfectly pleased grin

but a look of shock, they thought for sure my stint as " The Morning

Mami Gourmet Chef" was over. As

they eagerly took their seats, I said I wasn't sure how many times

"Morning Mami" would show up this summer, but wouldn't it be

interesting to anticipate her return!...... What were their reactions?.......Ummm ok so that didn't go over so well......(insert looks that were very displeased).

LOL! If she does happen to make her prescence again I will keep you updated on her arrival and subsequent retun.

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Raspado-Sno-Cone Cupcakes

Raspados in Mexico are the American version of a sno cone but kicked up a whole bunch of notches! The American sno-cone simply put is white paper cone filled to the brim with crunchy bits of shaved

ice flavored with a variety of syrup flavors such as: cherry, orange, lemon, lime, grape, strawberry, blue raspberry, pina colada. Now the Mexican raspado is like walking outside your front door the

morning after the winter's first snow, grabbing a cup full of soft, icy cold pure white snow then turning around to see Rainbow Brite standing there with her majestic white horse with its rainbow

striped hair she's armed with her magical tool the Color Belt which is used to bring color to the land.  This time though it's not a dreary colorless land that she plans to illuminate, it's that frosty cup of  ice

in your hands. But since the many years that you last saw her, her powers have been enhanced and she now also harnesses the power not only to transform colors but flavors too! She asks you which

flavor would you like? She recites some of the flavors commonly see in an American sno-cone: fresa(strawberry), platano(banana), coco ( coconut) but then she goes a little more exotic with flavors such

as mangoes, tamarindo (sweet sour Spanish fruit), durazno ( peach) or even rompope (eggnog). After you have you picked what you like best, the choices don't end there because "La Senorita Rainbow"

asks "would you like some lechera( sweet condensed milk" and of course you will have to say yes because it is nothing like you've seen before. The sweet liquid gives your raspado a creamy, thick

consistency that takes it to another land. Now if your are the adventurous type and like to travel to a whole different dimension then the next offering from " La Senorita Rainbow" will be just your style.

It's called the chamoyada, which is the option to have your desired flavored raspado dipped in a " chamoy( a savory Mexican sauce made of pickled fruit spiced with powdered chiles) this one is

definitely not your "typical" sno-cone, nor for the faint of heart!  Okay so now that you have a little more info on American sno- cones and Mexican raspados you'll understand what inspired me to make

these cute Raspado/Sno-Cone Cupcakes. Neither one actually contains any ice at all just soft vanilla cake and fluffy butter cream dipped in originally white sugar crystals that I hand dyed myself into

bright rainbow colors.  While making these I actually had no magical encounters with majestic horses or golden-haired girls that harnessed the power to color your day, but they were still pretty fun to

make.  The look on the faces of the children I delivered them to was enchanted but still no magic. Anyway if you ever find yourself in Mexico and happen to walk past a raspado cart don't hesitate to

 stop. When "El Senor Raspado" asks " would you like it chamoyada you'll know exactly what he is talking about and maybe you'll be daring enough to give it a try! ♥

Sundae in Guadalajara- Ice Cream Cupcakes

You really have no idea how many great blogs are out there! Or do you?.......Well lately I've had a chance to blog surf and have found some really great ones not only with yummy looking recipes but

also with admirable photographs. If you didn't already know along with latin culture and baking, photography is yet another one of my hobbies. I get almost as much pleasure from seeing what I

baked all "bonitafied" on a plate, as I do standing behind the camera lens taking photos of it.  Okay back to the blogs......a couple of weeks ago I came upon the Cupcake Project Blog and saw that they

were having a contest where you had to come up with a recipe using cupcakes and ice cream. Oh my, my, my that sounded like something I definitely wanted to be a part of, just the idea of it got my

creative juices all flowing.  Well after a few weeks I finally found the time to settle down, think about what yummy recipe I wanted to concoct then get it all down on paper for everyone to enjoy. In any

event I came up with a cupcake/ice cream dessert twist which I call "Sundae in Guadalajara". Many of the ingredients used in this dessert have a Spanish influence in one way or another. Actually

almost 6 years ago I had the chance to spend 3 weeks in Guadalajara studying Spanish abroad but never made it. The truth be told at the time I was a little nervous about the flight, silly I know, but

now I am over it and ready to go and visiting Guadalajara has now moved on to my bucket list, well that along with making the trek to Machu Picchu in Peru. Either way when I do go I imagine it being

so caliente that I must purchase something to cool me down from the hot Mexican sol, as I'm walking along the cobblestone streets I see a senora with a pushcart serving up these heaping creamy cold

scoops of Mexican helado (ice cream) strawberry and dulce de leche unto fluffy plantain cupcakes. Each scoop is dripping with alternating drizzles of Mexican chocolate syrup and creamy homemade dulce de leche, then sprinkled with chunks of sugar cone pieces and colorful sprinkles.

A swirl of vanilla buttercream and a tangy yellow and a plump red cherry tops it off. And there you have it my "Sundae in Guadalajara" ice cream/ cupcake LOVE ♥  Oh and if ice cream is what you crave I found a cute little blog called Scoopalicious that is dedicated to everything ice cream!

Plantain Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups superfine sugar
• 2 3/4 cups cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1 very ripe plantain (mostly black)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 345 degrees F. Line a 24 count jumbo-size cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

In a heavy-duty mixing bowl, cream together the butter and shortening on medium speed. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, until completely combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the superfine sugar with the mixer set to low speed. Once combined, set the mixer to medium speed and mix for 5 minutes.

Sift together the cake flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Begin to add the sifted dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the warm milk. In a separate bowl, blend the plantain with a hand mixer. Add the vanilla and the blended plantain to the batter.

Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake until the cake bounces back when you touch it, about 20 minutes. Remove from the pan and place onto a wire rack to cool.

When the cupcakes are completely cool place them on a plate or even a ice cream sundae dish would be really cute. Top the cupcakes with either strawberry or dulce de leche ice cream or both would be delicious, I used Haagen -Dazs for both flavors.

Drizzle the cupcakes with dulce de leche and Mexican chocolate syrup, I found both of these at my local Mexican market. Dulce de leche may also be found in your local grocery store easier than the Mexican chocolate syrup may be. But you can make your own syrup by taking a cup of regular chocolate syrup and adding a tsp of  Mexican canela or cinnamon.

Sprinkle crushed sugar cone pieces and colorful sprinkles on top of the ice cream, then swirl with your favorite homemade or canned frosting a few more colored sprinkles and top with cherries!

Twinkie Hot Dogs & Frijoles

So today was my daughter's end of the year barbecue at her school, I spent all day yesterday trying to find an waffle ice cream sandwich maker so that I could make waffle ice cream sandwiches for the event.

 I was desperately searching / half trying to remember exactly where I saw said " sandwich maker just three short days before". When I originally saw it in the store I marveled at how adorable it was but it

was something I didn't need at that time. Fast forward to three days later when I decided that the ice cream maker was so charming and imagined all the ninos in my daughters school running around the

grass in the hot summer sun with one of my creamy sweet ice cream sandwiches, a trail of party cake ice cream dripping down their elbows and them overjoyed that Jaelyn had " such a cool mom that

she  not only made mouthwatering but such suitable treats for the pre-summer climate. Ha ha! Of course in my mind's eye every chica and chico in my daughter's class absolutely adore my treats

and to thank her for having such a solid mom they surround her in a circle and hold her in the air and sing " for she's a jolly good fellow"! Okay so that never happens......well if it did she never told me,

but she does say that the ninos are always very happy to find out I will be bestowing a little sweetness on their class. So I'm saying all this because after a day of searching for everything needed to make

waffle ice cream sandwich goodness, as I am coming through the door my daughter hands me a note. The note says "that the event dessert table is already full, and if I would like to bring something for

the end of the year that would be great"  Huh? Okay kind of random but I never did find the waffle ice cream sandwich maker, looked it up online and realized that it wasn't actually an electric

appliance that I saw, rather a cookie sheet with waffle shaped indentations for cake. So I guess my waffle dreams weren't meant to be and I was actually kind of relieved at the same time because I

was exhausted from a long day at work and waffle maker hunting. I went to bed that night very peaceful and actually slept like a baby.......The next morning however was a whole other thing, It was

the baking fairy had subconsciously brainwashed me in my blissful sleep and I awoke with nothing but thoughts of dread because I had nothing to bring to my daughter's BBQ! How could I go empty

handed?! What if I got there walked past the dessert table and saw a gaping empty whole where one

irresponsible mom had promised her sweet faced chica that she would bring something but showed up with nothing. Then that would be the space where my wafflewich's ( waffle sandwich) could have

gone.  With those thoughts racing through my mind I calculated the hours that I had to rapidamente concoct a BBQ worthy dessert, and after 20 agonizing minutes I remembered seeing these cute little 

hot dogs somewhere before and decided that they would be a perfect and a quick treat to bring to the BBQ. Just what I needed  to set my panic at ease.

 So here are what I call my "Twinkie Hot Dogs & Frijoles" or otra vez en in ingles " Hot Dogs and Beans". These were actually so quick and easy that I plan to make them my go to dessert for any BBQ's I attend this summer.

Justin Bieber is Mas Caliente Than Kevin Bacon

So last week was my daughter Bianca's 9th birthday and every year I make a special delivery to her class

with whichever treat her little heart desires.  Now my Bianca is a huge Justin Bieber fan and she has

been dedicated to loving Justin for almost 3 years now.  Unfortunately, 3rd grade children being who

they are some of the children in her class not only
do not care for Justin Bieber. They dislike him with

the same amount of passion that forces my daughter to practically beg me on her hands and knees to

purchase every single magazine that has Justin's face gracing the cover. So I was shocked when she

said she wanted me to make the cupcakes that I added to Chica Chocolatina menu 2 years ago to

show our love for Justin Bieber ( yes, yes I did say OUR LOVE), I think he is a very cute, determined and talented little kid). It is a vanilla-maple bacon

infused cake, swirled with rich maple butter cream ( since Justin is from Canada and Canada is famous for its maple syrup we actually found pure maple syrup straight from Canada to use in the

butter cream. The Canadian maple butter cream is than infused with Justin's favorite color, purple. A crispy piece of maple bacon is dipped in milk chocolate than placed on top of the cupcake with royal

purple sprinkles. Trying to find a name for this cupcake was a little tricky at first, I thought calling it a Justin Bieber bacon cupcake was just too plain and didn't give any justice to the extraordinary taste

of a maple-bacon cupcake or even the exceptional talent or the person that this cupcake was dreamed up for.  So after some time it just clicked as a young girl "Footloose" was my absolute favorite movie

and I was totally obsessed with Kevin Bacon, well actually it seemed like everyone was at the time. Anyway I felt like my childhood obsession with Kevin Bacon was similar to the way my Bianca felt

about Justin Bieber (his last name also played an insy winsy part, lol).  Even though I think Kevin Bacon has aged beautifully and is still sexy as hell! But I'm sure all those preteen Justin Bieber

loving girls would profoundly disagree and decided that I should accept that a new generation has taken over and respectfully named this the


Justin Bieber is Mas Caliente Than Kevin Bacon Cupcake ♥ And just because I know that some little 9 year olds can be relentless with their teasing and distaste for someone or something that

they don't like. I made a few cupcakes with plain white butter cream, royal purple sprinkles and the chocolate dipped bacon. I couldn't stand to think that they would ruin Bianca's special day by

possibly throwing away the cupcakes just because Justin Biebers face was on them. What those kids don't know is that no matter the decoration a little bit of Justin Bieber is baked in side each little

cake, because me and Bianca had so much fun stirring, mixing and pouring all while Justin Bieber was blasting through our kitchen the whole entire time♥