Soup, Salad and Sandwich luncheon with Hummingbird Cupcakes

I took an opportunity to rekindle some old friendships since I moved to the country and invited several friends from my younger days to have lunch in our renovation project home.  I settled on a menu that included a Creamy Broccoli Soup, Croissant Sandwiches, a fruity  Romaine Salad and decadent Hummingbird Cupcakes topped with PinWin pineapple flowers.  All of the recipes are easy to prepare for an informal luncheon with old friends that left me stress free so I could enjoy the visit with them.

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcake

Boy Grand likes to help in the kitchen and he loves cupcakes so this week we decided to make an almost homemade cupcake version of pineapple upside down cake.  We turned a packaged cake mix into an easy special treat with pineapple and cherries.  We started with one of those small packaged confetti cake mixes just right for a dozen cupcakes.  I chose the confetti mix because it seems to be more appealing to the kids that are tempted to eat only the icing.  He approved.
 

Cake mix, apples and Dulce de leche

In the mood for something tasty, but not really in the mood to spend forever making it?  That’s how I feel today so it’s time for an “Almost Homemade” recipe.  Looking in the pantry I see one of those mini boxes of Jiffy cake mix but plain cake just won’t satisfy. While checking the fridge I see a can of hubs home made Dulce de leche and and apple out of the fruit bowl give me what I’m looking for. 

Now I feel really focused and can hardly wait to see if this turns out (which it does).  First, turn on the oven and spray a cupcake tin with baking spray.  It takes only a few minutes to beat the Jiffy cake mix up.  Another 2 minutes to dice an apple, add a few pinches of cinnamon and nutmeg and using the quarter cup measuring cup, measure the mixture into the cupcake pan.  Stick it in the oven for 20 minutes. 

The hardest part?  The 20 minute wait!  When I took it out hubs and I both tried the cakes hot.  Good, add a spoon full of the Dulce de leche…great. 

Recipe:

• cake mix (follow directions on box)
• 1 finely diced apple (2 if using a regular size cake mix)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Mix cake according to box directions, add the other ingredients and stir.  Measure into prepared cupcake pan and bake 350° F for 15-20 minutes.
• Garnish with prepared Dulce de leche or brown sugar icing.  Heck, try some warm caramel sauce.