Ta da!!! Here it is – the first recipe from last weekend’s cupcake-a-thon.
Mayan. Chocolate. Cupcakes. YUM!
These were without a doubt the crowd favorite of the evening. Which of course, came as no surprise — who can resist double chocolate?! But of course, we couldn’t just do plain chocolate. :) Decided to add in a hint of cinnamon, chili powder, and cayenne for a fun extra kick. And thankfully, people loved it!!!!!
As I mentioned in the cupcake-a-thon post, since we were making hundreds of these in one day, I relented and decided to go “semi-homemade”, using a boxed cake mix as the base for the recipe. But we also used the tips from “Hello Cupcake”, adding in an extra egg and a cup of buttermilk to make the cupcakes extra moist. (Which sooooo many people commented on — they truly were perfectly moist!)
As much as I’m humbled to admit, using the cake mix, these were some of my favorite cupcakes ever. So I definitely recommend giving them a try….soon!! :)
Mayan Chocolate Cupcakes with Cocoa-Cinnamon Buttercream
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 24 cupcakes 1x
Description
Chocolate featuring subtle hints of cinnamon and spices this Mayan Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cocoa-Cinnamon Butter-cream Recipe is a crowd-pleaser.
Ingredients
Cupcake Ingredients:
- 1 (18.25 oz.) box Devil’s Food (or other chocolate variety) cake mix
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne
- 4 eggs
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I prefer dark chocolate cocoa, but any works!)
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
- Add the first six cake ingredients (cake mix through cayenne) together in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Add eggs one at a time, until the batter is well-mixed. Increase speed to high and beat until thick, 2 minutes longer.
- Pour or scoop the batter into the paper liners until they are 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool on a wire rack.
To Make Frosting:
- Cream butter in an electric mixer on medium-speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Then add cocoa powder and cinnamon and mix on low-speed until combined. Gradually add in the milk and powdered sugar, alternately, until combined. Then beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, another 3-5 minutes. (Add in more powdered sugar if consistency is too thin.)
Ali’s Tip:
For an extra kick, try grinding a pinch of ground sea salt on top of these! It truly kicks them up a notch! (And then you can tell your friends that they’re “salted cocoa-cinnamon buttercream”!)
Hi Ali,
Can this be made in cake form? Are the cake baking instructions the same of you do two round players?
I would imagine the baking time changes but wondered if you could provide guidance on what time should be used, and temperature.
Thanks in advance!
Ali, thank you for sharing this awesome recipe. These are my husband’s absolute favorite chocolate cupcakes! His birthday is in May, so we usually have a Cinco de Mayo birthday theme for his party. He loves to have these instead of a birthday cake. They are the perfect dessert for the party theme! Sometimes I top them with store-bought Chocolate frosting to save a little time. I’ve also served them with no frosting and just added fresh berries on the side (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries). I’ve been making this recipe at least once a year for 6 years. I’m making them again this weekend! : )
I could only find 15.25oz boxes of cake mix, so to get the volume up to 18.25oz, I added 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 3 tablespoons chuao spicy Maya drinking chocolate mix. I also used powdered chilis instead of chili powder (not sure if this is a regional thing, but “chili powder” here includes onion and garlic powder and that sounded weird to me). They turned out great, with just enough kick from the spice to cut the richness of the chocolate. This is a perfect cupcake for fall because it’s so warming.