On the heels of my recent culinary triumph, I decided that I was ready to create my own cupcake recipe.  I've always been so scared of baking, knowing that my normal method of cooking (meaning improvising) wouldn't work well with baking.  But, with 14 varieties of cupcakes under my belt, I felt READY.  Inspired to make something for Cinco de Mayo, I dug the Mexican Hot Chocolate tablets out of the cupboard.  Reading and re-reading the ingredient list to make sure that they were non-dairy, I thought the flavors would be a perfect addition to a cupcake.  Using a basic chocolate cupcake recipe, I simply substituted the grated tablet for the cocoa powder found in the recipe.  Sophie placed the liners in the cupcake pan and contemplated my plan, her face visual foreshadowing, but Abuelita looks like she still has faith in me.


The batter looked a little speckly, which I thought was kind of pretty.  It had a slight scent of cinnamon, and was a bit, I don't know, FOAMY in texture.


As I pulled the cupcakes out of the oven, each side that I touched was a bit SPONGY.  Huh, I thought, that's weird.  Must just be because it was warm. 

I grated another tablet to add to the frosting, again substituting the Mexican hot chocolate tablet for the cocoa powder in the recipe, removing some of the powdered sugar, and adding a bit more soy creamer.  The consistency looked good, but upon tasting, realized it was CRUNCHY.  Not bad, but not necessarily good either.  Since I could see that there would be a chance that the frosting would be WEIRD, I decided to do something new that would not be a freestanding tower.  Plus, if there's one thing I've learned in my baking frenzy, the prettiness of cupcakes is a big part of the thing.


The final result?  Foamy, spongy, crunchy - just as I'd expected.  Not great, but still edible.  I think I'll go back to making the tried and true, and leave my freewheeling to all things savory.