Sopapilla Cupcakes

Last year I made sopapillas for Cinco de Mayo.  This year, I decided to try sopapilla cupcakes.  None of the sopapilla cupcake recipes online were very appealing to me, so I played around with some ingredients and this is what I got:

Sopapilla Cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 scant cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk the egg together with both of the sugars. Whisk in the milk and melted butter.
4. In thirds, whisk the flour mixture into the milk mixture.  Whisk well after each addition.
5. Divide into muffin cups and bake 15-18 minutes.  Carefully remove from cupcake pan when done and place on cooling rack until cool.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons and softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Whisk eggwhites and sugar constantly in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water until the mixture reaches 160F.
2. Transfer to a mixer and, using the whisk attachment, beat on high until smooth and glossy and the bowl is cool to touch.
3. Switch the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment and set to medium-high speed.  Add butter one tablespoon at a time, and then the vanilla, until mixture is smooth.

Assembling the Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes have cooled, pipe on the icing.  Then sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top and drizzle with a little honey.  Garnish with some little sopapilla crisps.  To make the crisps, cut a tortilla into little triangles, fry them until they're golden brown, and coat them with cinnamon sugar.

Busy Day Chicken Taco Soup

Finally, I have a place online to post recipes. I wasn't going to post one for a few days, but I tried something for dinner today that my husband completely gobbled up, beans and all (he HATES beans).  I get bored with Crock-Pot recipes pretty quick because making dinner gives me something to do, and there's not much to do with Crock-Pot recipes except dump a bunch of crap in a pot and wait around until it's ready to serve.  Today, I had lots of gardening to do and I still have to make a birthday cake for my sister, so I turned to the slow cooker, and here is what I ended up with:

Busy Day Chicken Taco Soup:

• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, not drained
• 1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 (10 oz) cans Rotel, not drained (I used the diced tomato w/ green chiles)
• 1 Miller Lite
• 1 packet Taco seasoning
• 1 tbsp El Yucateco Green Habanero hot sauce (optional)
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Place beans, corn, tomato sauce, Rotel, beer, taco seasoning, and hot sauce in the Crock-Pot and stir until combined.
2. Add the chicken breasts, cover and cook on high heat until they are cooked through. This took about 4 hours with my Crock-Pot. 
3. Remove chicken, shred it, and return it to the pot.
4. Stir in parsley and cook 30 more minutes.
5. Serve with whatever toppings you like, cheese, sour cream, sliced jalapenos, tortilla chips, etc.