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!