Description
Dark chocolate cupcakes with a bite! Topped with Chili Cream Cheese Frosting. This recipe was inspired from a combination of recommendations from AR Buzzers. Thanks all! They were a huge hit at our annual Chili Cook-off. Many wanted THEM to be allowed as an entry. Add more chili and cayenne powder to taste. (IF YOU CAN TAKE IT!)
Ingredients
- 1 (18.25 ounce) box devil’s food chocolate cake mix
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ancho chile pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 ¼ cups water
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground ancho chile pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, or more as needed
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon clear vanilla extract, or to taste
- 24 small dried red chiles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
- Whisk cake mix
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ancho chile
- and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Beat in water
- vegetable oil
- and eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed; beat for 2 minutes. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups
- filling them 2/3 full.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean
- 18 to 22 minutes. Remove and cool completely before frosting.
- Sift 1 teaspoon ground ancho chile
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- and cinnamon with confectioners’ sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat in cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth; mix in vanilla extract.
- Spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes in attractive swirls. Poke a small dried chile
- stem-side up
- into frosting as a garnish.
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 18 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 18 mins
Servings: 24