Churro Cupcakes

Who’s ready for Cinco de Mayo?

Fun fact!  I was researching Cinco de Mayo and found out that it is commonly misunderstood to be Mexican Independence day, but is actually the anniversary of an underdog victory by Mexico against France in the Franco-Mexican War.  The holiday is noted (a little) in the region in which it was won, but it not really a big deal in Mexico (it is NOT a holiday).

In the United States, however, it has become kind of a big deal and a time to celebrate Mexican culture.  Funny how that works, isn’t?

Cinco de Mayo has been a favorite in our house ever since Dude (now 11) was a baby.  When he was born, someone gifted us a set of “holiday bibs”…Baby’s first Christmas, Baby’s first Easter, and Baby’s First Cinco de Mayo.

Wait, Baby’s first Cinco de Mayo?!?  Mid-twenties Hubs and I said, “challenge accepted” and took a picture with my brother’s ridiculous sombrero from his trip to Mexico and our shot glass that we got on our honeymoon.  The photo was everything we expected and more.  Dude is hysterically grumpy-looking and it is still one of our favorite photos of him ever (we laugh to this day!)

And that is why we celebrate Cinco de Mayo!

So this year, it’s super fun churro cupcakes (we were just in Disney and had to take advantage of the delicious churros, so it was a no-brainer!)

The cupcakes are delicious, and the mini tacos are adorable, so these are a must if you are the Cinco de Mayo sort!

Churro Cupcakes with Mini Taco Toppers

Cupcakes

1 (15 oz) box white cake mix

1 (3.9 oz) vanilla instant pudding

4 eggs

8 oz sour cream
¾ cup canola oil

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ cup water

Frosting

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mini Tacos (optional)

Golden Oreos

Brownies, crumbled

White royal icing

Sprinkles

Topping

¼ cup cinnamon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line muffin tins with 24 paper liners.

Mix all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth.  Divide the batter evenly between the liners and bake for 25-28 minutes.  Cool completely before frosting.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, make the frosting.  Beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon, and beat until smooth.

Place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a 2D Wilton Tip and pipe onto cupcakes.  Sprinkle each cupcake with cinnamon sugar.

For optional mini tacos (note: I made these the night before), split the Golden Oreos and scrape out (and discard) the filling.  Crack each cookie in half.  Fold in a “V”, pipe a line of royal icing on the seam to hold.

Crumble about ¼ pan of brownies (I baked brownies from a box mix, but you can use what you have on hand).  Place a pinch of crumbled brownie into the “taco shell” (cookie “V”).  Top with more white royal icing (“sour cream”) and sprinkles to represent lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes.

Place each mini taco on top of the cupcakes and serve.

Makes 24-28 cupcakes