ghetto delicious gourmet cupcakes - made from a box and topped with stuff from a tub

This past weekend, I met my cousins for dinner in Milpitas.  It was a long drive down the 880  - past 4 Walmarts.  

Admission - a guilty pleasure of mine, is to visit Walmarts late at night.   After the crowds of rowdy families are gone, I like to roam the aisles.   In addition to all of the basic necessities, they carry the most random stuff!   

I especially enjoy spending time in their food section. The assortment reflects the tastes of their clientele. My kitchen is filled with an assortment of Hispanic and Asian spices and ingredients I have found in the Walmart Food section!  

That night I was craving something sweet.  I actually picked up a box of strawberry Twinkies - but I put it back down.  Yup, the craving was pretty strong.  What I really wanted was a cupcake.  When I lived in New York, I would walk home from dinner in the West Village, and stop by Magnolia Bakery for a freshly frosted cupcake - YUM! In California, I was on my own. 

There's a place down the street from me that makes fancy cakes for weddings and special events. They have chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that are so decadent - I can practically feel the inches grow on my hips as soon as they touch my lips.  The cake part is not typical - it is more dense - like a brownie.  So I wanted to make my own "ghetto delicious" version of this gourmet cupcake.

I picked up a box of brownie mix and a tub of cream cheese frosting and drove back home up the 880. 

The result?  It was pretty darn close to the original!  

Ghetto Delicious Gourmet Cupcake

• 1 box of brownie mix
• 1 tub of cream cheese frosting
• cupcake papers

Prepare brownie mix as directed on box.  Bake time will be shorter than the 13"x9" pan time - check with a toothpick for doneness.  

Remove from pan to cool.  When cool top with frosting.  

Don't judge.  Try them yourself.  They're really really good!  Just don't tell people you made them from a box and a tub!

Enjoy!!!