Chocolate Praline Cupcakes

This recipe is slightly adapted from my Aunt's Layer Cake recipe. These are so good and yummy, and perfect for when I big layer cake just won't do. One of these days I might get around to making the layer cake, and then I'll post a picture of that.

One note of caution- the praline sauce tends to overflow slightly while cooking, so keep a cookie sheet under cupcake pans to catch drips. Or remember to clean out your oven thoroughly before baking again- the praline sauce will catch on fire and successfully postponing Thanksgiving Dinner several hours while you wait for the oven to cool, and then clean it out.

Chocolate Praline Cupcakes

For Cake:

1 box Devil's Food cake mix

Follow directions on box, then add-

1 pkg instant pudding

1 cup chocolate chips

For Praline Sauce:

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup chopped pecans

For Topping:

1 3/4 cups whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla

any other garnishes you prefer- chocolate curls, whole pecans, etc.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan combine butter, 1/4 cup whipping cream, and brown sugar. Cook over low heat until butter melts. Spoon into bottom of 2 cupcake pans. (24 standard size cupcakes) Sprinkle with pecans. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl mix up cake batter according to directions on box. Then stir in pudding mix and beat on low speed with electric mixer for 1 minute. Add chocolate chips and stir by hand to combine. Divide batter evenly into cupcake pans. Bake for 20 minutes (follow directions on box for cupcakes) or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for just a minute or two, then dump immediately. Cool completely.

For topping, beat 1 3/4 cups whipping cream and blend in powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until stiff peaks form. Dollop on top of cooled cupcakes.

(I meant to get a pretty picture of the cupcakes with the whipped cream dollop, but things got hectic and crazy, and then they got eaten. Sorry.)