Test Kitchen | Noé José Cupcakes

 

I eat a lot of sweet corn muffins. It's my lazy-broad dessert because I usually have eggs, milk, a can of corn, and Jiffy mix. Lately, I've been thinking they'd be great with a little bit a Mexican chocolate frosting. (I also drink a lot of Abuelita hot chocolate - the source of my inspiration.) I bought some boxed whipping cream from Trader Joe's I wanted to test out and thought it was the perfect time to try to make these cupcakes. I googled 'holy molé cupcakes' just to prove to myself how creative I am, but some guys in Chicago already beat me to the Mexican cupcake punch. I'll call my version Noé José cupcakes for copyright infringement purposes, although I did independently develop the same tasty idea.

The cornbread cake:

Ingredients

• 1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix
• 4 oz whole kernel canned corn (1/2 can)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup of milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp canola oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees
2. Follow the directions on the box of Jiffy, but add kernel corn, 2 tbsp of sugar, and 2 tbsp of canola oil
3. Let batter sit for 5 minutes
4. Fill baking cups half way and bake for 15-20 minutes

I don't like butter cream icing. (I think this is the only reason I don't weigh 500 lbs.) In social situations my niece eats my icing, so I don't get stared down by native Hoosiers. I actually prefer whipped cream frosting. I watched this video by Chef Candra about whipping cream by hand. She says it takes practice and elbow grease. She's not lying, but it's well worth it! I kind of propped the bowl in the sink at an angle, so the cream kept falling into itself. I think that helped to keep it moving. It really only takes a few minutes to do it by hand.

The chocolate frosting: 

Ingredients

• 3 squares of Abuelita's hot chocolate bar
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 4 oz whipping cream
• 1 oz of milk

Directions 

1. Freeze all your contraptions (bowl, whisk, etc.) for at least an hour
2. Melt the chocolate squares with 1 oz of milk, add an extra tablespoon of sugar, and let cool
3. Whip whipping cream into frosting
4. Drizzle in chocolate and whip again

You can put as little or as much frosting on the cake as you'd like. I can put a bit more whipped cream frosting on the cupcakes because it's so nice and light. It's like a delicious chocolate mousse your Abuelita would make you. I think these came out very well for a Sunday night experiment. The tastes go together perfectly, buy I think next time I will incorporate cake flour into the cornbread mix to make the cake less dense so the consistency of the cake will better match the light whipped cream frosting.

And the Trader Joe's boxed whipping cream was fine. I usually steer clear of dairy products that don't require refrigeration, but I guess if I'm not drinking it with cereal it's not so bad. Especially, if I can keep in the cupboard and not have to worry about a two week expiration date.