Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

In spite of the fact that I'm a fascinating and scintillating professor (naturally!) and that I start taking off points for missing more than three classes without a really good excuse (and yes, that's covered in the syllabus and emphasized in class), I've noticed a much thinner attendance pattern just lately in my NT Intro. class this Fall.

Besides doing what I can to up the interest and energy level of the class meetings and shake things up a little, I'm also sinking to the depths of bribing those who actually attend class with yummy homemade baked goods.

Should I feel cheap about that?

Having inventoried my pantry yesterday and discovered that I had several boxed cake mixes that were past their 'best used by' date (including one that was dated Dec. 2010 and one dated Jan. 2011), I started figuring out what I could do to make semi-fancy cupcakes out of a white cake mix and devil's food cake mix, given the fact that I'd used up the last of my milk making French toast for breakfast, was down to 6 eggs, and had no desire to make myself presentable enough to even visit the little neighborhood grocery store.

What I came up with turned out VERY tasty, which is why I'm sharing the recipes (such as they are) here.


MEGA-CHOCOLATE CHERRY CUPCAKES

1 box Pillsbury Devil's Food cake mix (or any brand or generic -- this is just what I had picked up on sale).
Ingredients required to make cake according to package directions.
1/8 cup instant coffee powder/crystals (just to turn up the volume on the chocolate flavor).
1 can extra-cherry cherry pie filling.
Generous half-cup of dried cherries, roughly chopped (well, cut in half-ish), pre-soaked (if possible) in the amount of water called for in the cake mix directions (you use the cherry-flavored water from soaking the dried fruit in place of plain water in the cake batter).
1 cup chocolate chips.

Make cake batter according to package directions, except add the 2 Tablespoons (1/8 cup) instant coffee powder to the dry mix before adding wet ingredients, and use the water from soaking the dried cherries instead of plain tap water. (Also, I used two whole eggs and two egg whites instead of the three whole eggs called for, but that was because that's all I had left after making the other cake recipe and its filling.)

Before filling paper-lined cupcake pans, thoroughly stir cherry pie filling, dried cherries, and chocolate chips into the cake batter. Fill cupcake paper liners 1/2 to 2/3 full with the batter (okay, maybe 3/4 full, to make it come out even), and bake according to cupcake directions on the box, giving them the longer of the suggested baking times. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pans to finish setting (they will still be very moist and slightly sticky to the touch on top, but it's all good!).


POOR WOMAN'S LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES

1 box white cake mix (any brand -- I used the super-cheapo generic from my local grocery that I'd picked up on sale).
Ingredients required to make cake according to package directions.
[Optional: a few colored sprinkles or sugar crystals to top the cupcakes.]
1/2 to 2/3 of a recipe for lemon pie filling (or a can of prepared lemon pie filling/pudding/curd). I used the following tried-and-true recipe from my favorite cookbook, and had about half of it left over for baking in custard cups and topping with fresh berries, after using a fairly conservative dollop to fill each of my cupcakes.

Filling for Lemon Meringue Pie:

Set at least 2 cups of water to boil in the kettle (you'll need 1.5 cups of boiling water pretty soon). In 2-quart saucepan, combine 1 1/4 cups white granulated sugar, 1/3 cup cornstarch, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir in 1/2 cup cold water, 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel, 1/2 cup lemon juice, and 4 egg yolks; mix well. Stir in 1 1/2 cups boiling water, and start the burner under the saucepan. Over medium heat, cook until mixture boils, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter or margarine until thoroughly blended.

Make your lemon pie filling and allow to cool, if not using store-bought. Make cake batter according to package directions (my box mix called for only 2 egg whites, so I was able to use the other two egg whites left over from making the lemon filling to make up for the missing whole egg in my chocolate cake batter).

Begin filling paper-lined cupcake pans, putting in (on the first round) just enough fluffy, meringue-ish white cake batter to cover the bottom of each cup. Follow with a generous dollop (overflowing teaspoon or even tablespoon sized) of lemon filling in each muffin cup, trying to keep the filling from touching the edges of the paper cups (keep it mounded in the middle). Then pour enough additional white cake batter to cover/bury the lemon filling and (if desired) top with colored sprinkles or sugar crystals before baking according to box directions for cupcakes, giving them the longer of the suggested baking times. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pans to finish setting . . . especially if (as on my first pan full of these) the lemon filling didn't quite get covered on top (if you beat that cake batter as much as the directions say, the lemon filling does NOT sink to the bottom of a mostly filled cupcake cup as I'd expected -- it just loats there on top of all that white fluffiness!).

We'll see if surprise treats semi-homemade by yours truly will improve the morale and attendance pattern of my New Testament students!