Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

When I have a themed meal, I go all out.  From beverages, to appetizers to dessert.  Sometimes we have friends over. Other times it's just the three of us.  I don't do it every time, but life is too short to leave the good dishes crammed in the back of the cabinets.  So I like to put out the effort and make our meals fun.  For Cinco de Mayo, Mr. Devilish and I celebrated at home.  We sipped on the Best Margaritas Ever, and made homemade baked chimichangas with his famous ranchero sauce.  Of course we needed a dessert to go along with the theme.  And what else would you expect me to do but cupcakes?  Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes of course.  They were the ideal ending to a delicious meal.  A friend from the Dallas area tried one, and he told me that this was better than any cupcake from any bakery he had ever tasted.  Now that's a compliment!  You'd better try them too. You'll get rave reviews!

Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground new mexico chile powder (not chili powder that has garlic, oregano, etc... added to it)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground new mexico chile powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3+ cups powdered sugar
2+ tablespoons whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a regular sized muffin pan with cupcake liners.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and oil.  Add in vanilla.  Meanwhile in a bowl, sift together flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon chile powder and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper.  Begin adding the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture a little at a time.  Alternate adding the flour mixture with the milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Batter should be well combined, and similar to a brownie batter in thickness.  Fill cupcake liners approximately 3/4 full and bake approximately 18 minutes or until done when tested in the center with a cake tester.  Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. 

For the frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chile powder, and cayenne pepper.  Add approximately 3 cups of powdered sugar and mix well.  Begin adding milk, a little at a time until desired consistency is reached.  You may need to adjust the amount of powdered sugar or milk to reach desired consistency.  Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.

NOTE:  This recipe yields about 18 cupcakes.  I only made 12 (with a little batter wasted) but I made the entire batch of frosting.  That's why the cupcakes pictured have a tower of frosting on top.  If you want lots and lots of frosting like the ones pictured, you may want to double the frosting amount or not make all 18 cupcakes.

Prep Time:  Approximately 20 minutes    Cook Time:  Approximately 18-20 minutes