Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Now I’m a girl who loves chocolate. And a girl who loves cake. But oddly, I don’t really like chocolate cake. The idea of throwing chili powder into a baked good, though, was enough to get me to try a Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcake recipe.

I originally stumbled upon a recipe at The Little Kitchen which called for baking the cupcakes in ramekins (of which I have a ton!) but I decided if I was going to make this recipe for my April beer dinner I wanted to go with a more traditional cupcake. A little Google searching later and I found an easy to follow recipe at The Dough Will Rise Again.

First, like all good recipes, you cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.

I’m always a little tempted to stop baking at this point in a recipe and just eat the sugar and butter but I don’t think even I can justify that.

So press on and add the egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl you’re going to mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, salt, cayenne, cinnamon and chili powder! This part was weird because as I was adding the spices all I could think about was how I’m pretty sure I used these exact same spices in my chili recipe a few weeks ago.

Next you have to add the dry mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, alternating with buttermilk. My buttermilk was semi-frozen (I had leftovers from another recipe and decided to freeze portioned out containers) but it worked fine. The mix was pretty stiff before adding the buttermilk.

Finally, plop that batter in a muffin tin! Here is where I always make a mess and one of the reasons I generally avoid cupcakes.

Bake!

Next comes the frosting. The recipe calls for a cream cheese-cinnamon frosting. I was a little uneasy about this combination but it was pretty intriguing. You start by whipping the cream cheese and butter, then add the powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Now in the recipe I was following they used a fancy piping bag to make cool swirls but I just spread mine on (and halved the frosting recipe, by the way). Despite my lack of frosting refinement, I think I ended with a pretty beautiful final product!

I took most of my creations over to a friend’s house for dessert and we ate them paired with Bison Brewing Co. Chocolate Stout. It was a most excellent pairing.

I also think I’ll try this recipe again with some experimenting by replacing the buttermilk with beer! I’m not sure what it will do for the moistness of the cupcakes but I’m willing to find out.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (Makes ~18)

Everything you’ll need:

For the cupcakes-

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder

For the frosting (this is half the original recipe; double if you’re fancy frosting-ing)-

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

For the cupcakes-

1. Cream together the butter (1/2 cup), brown sugar (1 cup), and white sugar (1/2 cup) until well combined.
2. Add the egg and vanilla (1 tsp).
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder (3/4 cup), flour (1-1/2 cups), baking soda (1/2 tsp), salt (1/4 tsp), cayenne pepper (1/4 tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp), and chili powder (1-1/2 tsp).
4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and combine, then add half the buttermilk. Continue alternating adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk, mixing until combined after each addition.
5. Fill prepared muffin tins 2/3 of the way and bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes (may need a little longer).

For the frosting-

1. Cream together the butter (1/2 cup) and cream cheese (8 ounces).
2. Add the powdered sugar (~3-1/2 cups) and cinnamon (1/2 tsp). Adjust to taste.
3. Frost the cupcakes once they are completely cooled.