Kirsten Oliphant

A lifestyle blog from writer Kirsten Oliphant. Celebrating the daily chaos of motherhood.

Cinnamon Chocolate Cayenne Cupcakes

A classic cupcake with a spicy kick.

This 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats is so far 2 weeks of cupcakes. Are you complaining? Last week it was my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, and this week a new brainchild: Cinnamon Chocolate Cayenne Cupcakes.

A lot sweet and a little spicy, these have some Christmas spice by way of cinnamon and some Texas spice by way of cayenne. Plus: chocolate. Rob and I taste-tested and they were just the right amount of spicy. It comes at the end, and is tempered by a luscious cream cheese icing.

Chocolate cupcakes with cinnamon and the tangy bite of cayenne.

Hungry yet?

Cinnamon Chocolate Cayenne Cupcakes
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Ingredients
  1. For the cake
  2. 1 1/3 cups flour
  3. 1/2 tsp baking soda
  4. 2 tsp baking powder
  5. 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa
  6. 1 1/2 T cinnamon
  7. 1 tsp cayenne
  8. 1/8 tsp salt
  9. 3 T butter, softened
  10. 1 cup sugar
  11. 1/2 cup brown sugar
  12. 2 eggs
  13. 1 tsp vanilla extract
  14. 1/2 tsp almond extract
  15. 1 cup milk
  16. For the icing
  17. 1 block cream cheese (8 oz), softened
  18. 1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened
  19. 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
  20. 1 tsp vanilla
  21. 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate, melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking cups in pan.
  2. Mix together the first seven dry ingredients. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until well mixed. Add one egg at a time, beating each until incorporated. Add the extracts and then alternate adding milk and dry ingredients until well mixed. Pour into baking cups, filling about 3/4 full. Bake 15-16 minutes.
  3. While the cupcakes are baking, cream together the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and extracts. Melt the chocolate over a double broiler or in a microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring between. Use either plain cream cheese icing or mix in the melted chocolate for a chocolate cream cheese icing.
Notes
  1. *You can never have too much icing, but in this case, more icing really helps offset the spice, so pile it on!
  2. *To make these extra pretty, garnish with a cinnamon stick, drizzle of chocolate, or dust with cinnamon.
Kirsten Oliphant https://kirstenoliphant.com/

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