Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting

I was invited to a Halloween party and we were supposed to bring something so I decided to make some cupcakes. I had bought some decorative Halloween cupcake liners and this was the perfect excuse to use them. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to bake. I didn’t know most of the people at the party so I didn’t want to make anything too exotic. My husband sent me the recipe below, which sounded just great. Chocolate with a little bit of spice and cinnamon frosting? Great!

I did edit the recipe a bit. Although the only thing I changed about the cake was that I made it into cupcakes. I changed the frosting to be cream cheese, as mascarpone is very expensive. These were supposed to have whipped cream based frosting, but I changed that to a powdered sugar based frosting, which I thought would travel better. My husband also suggested filling the cupcakes with cherry pie filling. 

You might look at this cake recipe and think, “What is she thinking?” The cake does contain some unexpected ingredients like cayenne pepper and balsamic vinegar, but trust me, it works. The cake mixes in one bowl, which was super easy. That makes up for also having to make the frosting and filling the cupcakes. It was fairly easy to core out the cupcakes; I hadn’t really done that before so I wasn’t sure how smoothly that would go. All assembled, these looked fabulous and they were well liked at the party. Some people couldn’t believe that they were homemade, but that’s because they didn’t know me!

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup butter, room temperature

3-4 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 tablespoons milk

Cherry pie filling (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a regular-sized cupcake pan with paper liners. You’ll need about 18 liners.

In a large bowl, combine the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, pepper and salt. Whisk to combine, making sure that the brown sugar isn’t lumpy. Add the milk, oil, egg, balsamic vinegar, and vanilla and mix with a spatula until combined. The batter should be fairly smooth.

Fill each cupcake liner ¾ full of batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting: in a large mixer bowl beat the cream cheese and butter until light. Gradually add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth. I added 3 cups. Stir in the cinnamon and vanilla. Add milk and/or additional powdered sugar to achieve spreading consistency.

Assemble the cupcakes: if desired, with a sharp knife core out part of the center of the cooled cupcake and fill with about a tablespoon of cherry pie filling. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe the frosting on the cupcake. 

Inspired by/cake recipe from Baked Bree

Nanaimo Bar Cupcakes

Last week when I was picking out cookies to bake, my husband had suggested that I use gingerbread Kahlua in the brownies I was making. I thought that sounded good, but then that would have been for my Christmas baking. He suggested that I could make Kahlua Nanaimo Bars, and that he would find some recipes. One of the recipes he sent me was this one, for Nanaimo Bar Cupcakes. Since this was the very first recipe that I pinned when I joined Pinterest, I figured that it was finally time to make them.

These are quite similar to Nanaimo Bars, although they don’t contain graham crackers. These are just a chocolate cupcake base, with nuts and coconut added to the batter. The original recipe called for almonds, but I always use pecans in Nanaimo Bars so that’s what I used here. The filling in a Nanaimo Bar uses Bird’s Custard Powder, and that is used here in the icing. I love custard powder and am happy for any opportunity to use it.

I wasn’t sure how many cupcakes this would make, but I was able to make 24 regular-sized cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes. I had a little batter left over and probably could have made another 6-9 mini cupcakes but I figured I had plenty. I only had enough icing for the 24 cupcakes and some of the minis, but I like lots of frosting. While these don’t taste exactly like Nanaimo Bars, the flavors are really close. I love the frosting especially; the custard powder really adds something! So it took me a couple of years to finally make these, but they were worth the wait!

Nanaimo Bar Cupcakes

2 cups flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar

3 eggs

3 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1-1/2 cups coconut

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/3 cup whipping cream

¼ cup vanilla custard powder (Bird’s)

4 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. You’ll need at least 24 cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. in a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium for three minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. With the mixer running on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then half of the buttermilk. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture and the remaining milk, and then the final 1/3 of the flour. Stir in the pecans and coconut.

Fill the cupcake liners ¾ full. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then remove the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the icing: In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, whipping cream, custard powder, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix on medium until smooth. If the icing is too thick, add additional whipping cream. Add more powdered sugar if the icing is too thin.

Spread or pipe the icing on the cooled cupcakes. If desired, sprinkle with coconut and chocolate curls/decoration.

Recipe from BS’ In the Kitchen

Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes

Sometimes, a celebration just needs chocolate. When I bake for the birthdays at work, I’m often bringing something to celebrate multiple birthdays. I made a lovely citrus cake to celebrate, but it was on the small side and I figured I should make something to go with the cake. And for some people, it just isn’t a celebration without chocolate so I thought I would bring some chocolate cupcakes: chocolate Kahlua cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes can be tricky, so many of them are quite dry and not very chocolaty. You never know until you bake them up, but I really lucked out with this recipe. The batter is so easy that you don’t even need to use your mixer. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the liquid ingredients in another and then stir them together. The batter is quite thin, but don’t worry. Just be sure that you fill the cupcake lines 2/3 full or less. This batter rises like crazy while baking!

The frosting on these is fabulous: a little bit chocolate, a little bit Nutella, a little bit Kahlua. I would use this frosting on other cakes as it was so great. I don’t think that the Kahlua flavor of these cupcakes is very strong; they really taste like the best chocolate cupcake you’ve ever had, with a slight flavor of Nutella. These were such a hit at work!

Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes

1-1/2 cups flour

1-1/2 cups sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup hot coffee

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons Kahlua

1 cup butter, room temperature

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon Kahlua

3/4 cup chocolate chips, melted and slightly cooled

1/4 cup Nutella

Chocolate sauce, for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with paper liners. You’ll need about 18 liners.

Make the cupcakes: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. In a separate bowl combine the buttermilk, hot coffee, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and Kahlua. Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well for a couple minutes until combined. The batter will be thin and runny.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3. These cupcakes rise a lot so don’t fill them any more than 2/3 full. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with very few crumbs and the top of the cupcake springs back when touched. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Make the frosting: In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and powdered sugar and mix on medium until light, about 4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and Kahlua; mix until incorporated. Add the cooled chocolate and the Nutella and beat on medium until well combined, about 3 minutes. (If the frosting is too soft, add more powdered sugar, if too stiff, add heavy cream or milk.)

Pipe the frosting on to the cooled cupcakes. Drizzle with chocolate sauce for decoration.

Recipe from Savor Good Food

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I recently had a Christmas party with the ladies that I take ballet with and we had a great time. One of the ladies graciously hosted at her beautiful home. She asked me to bake a dessert to bring and I was happy to do that. I wanted to do something holiday themed, but also something that would travel ok. I decided to make these gingerbread cupcakes. And I could use these cute gingerbread toppers!

These cupcakes started out as gingerbread latte cupcakes, but I changed them to plain gingerbread cupcakes by adding hot water to the batter instead of hot coffee. I made mini cupcakes since that travelled better and it made a petite dessert for a lighter luncheon. I halved this recipe and made 12 mini cupcakes and 4 regular-sized cupcakes. I like the spiced cupcake paired with the lemon cream cheese frosting. Spice pairs nicely with that tart/sweet flavor! I also topped mine with a little bit of ground gingersnaps, too add a little extra crunch. These turned out well and everyone at the party enjoyed them.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

¼ cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg

1/2 cup hot water

1 teaspoon baking soda

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 regular cupcake or 24 mini cupcake with paper liners.

Make the cupcakes: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and the salt. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light. Add the molasses and egg and beat until smooth. In a measuring cup combine the hot water and baking soda, stir to dissolve the baking soda, and then add that to the butter mixture. The mixture may look curdled. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour/spice mixture, mixing just until combined.

Fill cupcake liners half to 2/3 full. Bake for 16-20 minutes (mini cupcakes take about 16-18 minutes, regular ones about 20 minutes) until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Cool in the pan 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting: in a large mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. Stir in the lemon zest and juice. Chill for about 30 minutes before frosting the cupcakes. Frost or pipe the frosting on the cupcakes.

Recipe from Baker’s Royale

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes

I was at the craft store earlier in the month and they had all of their Halloween baking supplies on sale. I seem to be a sucker for holiday themed cupcake liners. Of course if I need to bake cupcakes for a non-holiday, I’m usually out of luck. I saw these candy corn themed liners and I liked them, but I saw the little sugar ghosts holding candy corn and I couldn’t resist. I figured I would make some sort of cupcakes before Halloween, so I would be set.

I had some graham cracker crumbs left over, so I had recently looked for recipes that would use the crumbs. These cupcakes have a graham cracker base and topping, so they would be perfect. I made my cupcakes in the mini liners, so the ingredients listed here are for half a batch. I made 2 dozen mini cupcakes plus 5 regular sized cupcakes. 

The batter for these cupcakes is so thin you may think you’ve done something wrong, but you haven’t. This recipe make the nicest cupcakes ever: not dry, great chocolate flavor, and they kept fresh for several days. The 4 egg whites make way more frosting than you need, but it’s hard to cut the recipe any more. I did use my handy kitchen torch to toast the marshmallow frosting but you have to be careful, as I did scorch a couple of my cupcake liners. Be careful when you are playing with fire!

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes

1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour

6-1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup boiling water

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted

4 egg whites

1 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 mini muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Make the cupcakes: In a large mixer bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low to ensure that the ingredients are combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and beat on medium until smooth. Add the boiling water and stir to combine. The batter will be very thin.

In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar and melted butter. Stir until the mixture comes together.

Place 1 teaspoon of the graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup. Press the crumbs into the bottom of each liner (I used a tart tamper; you could also use your fingers.) Reserve the remaining graham cracker mixture for topping.

Bake the graham cracker base for 5 minutes, until golden. Fill the muffin cups ¾ full and sprinkle with some of the remaining graham cracker mixture.

Bake for 16-18 minutes, until firm and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcake in the pan for 15 minutes and then remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the frosting: Place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a medium bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (the water should not touch the bowl with the egg whites). Whisk the whites until the sugar is dissolved and whites are warm, 3 to 4 minutes.

Transfer the warmed egg whites to a large mixer bowl. Using the whisk attachment beat the mixture on low and gradually increase to high speed. Beat until stiff and glossy, 5-7 minutes. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe the frosting on the cooled cupcakes. Using a kitchen torch, brown the tops of the cupcakes.

Recipe from Culinary Serendipity