Mini Cinnamon Cupcakes with Mexican Hot Chocolate Buttercream

Congratulations! We did it!

You may well ask… What did we do? Several things.

1) We made it to Friday. Time for a cupcake!

2) Thanks to this amazing frosting, we also achieved the spicy, rich, Mexican hot chocolate flavor I was raving about in my Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Muffins post (Jodi, if you’re reading this, I checked out Como agua para chocolate from the Northwestern library and can’t wait to read it!).

3) Finally, thanks to the miracle of the mini-muffin pan, we also have found a dessert that Sean, my anti-sweet husband, will actually eat! Hooray!

Yes, it is SO strange that someone like me, who bakes as often as she bathes, got together with someone like Sean, who finds every dessert too “sweet.” Our conversations regarding my baked goods generally go like this:

Bethany: “Honey, I spent three hours baking and frosting this three layer cake. What do you think?”

Sean: “Um, it’s good… a little sweet.”

And so on. It’s very frustrating, but I comfort myself with the knowledge that Sean doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I mean, I try to be patient knowing that he didn’t grow up around a lot of sweets — Koreans eat fruit for dessert, and that’s about as sweet or rich as his culinary experience goes. Sean eats most of the things I bake, but in small quantities.

Which brings us to these cupcakes, which revolutionized our marriage. Sean couldn’t stop eating them, and actually prevented me from sharing them with our friends, saying in his most serious voice, “Those are our cupcakes.”

The cinnamon cupcake part is really awesome all on its own. Again, the sour cream makes them rich and moist, while the big dose of cinnamon gives them a huge taste for such a small bite. Of course, the star of the show is this Mexican hot chocolate buttercream, which is a magically close approximation of the Mexican hot cocoa flavor. It’s strong — I upped the amounts of all the spices — but since you only need a little bit of frosting for each these mini cupcakes, we found that the flavors balanced nicely. You can always go easy on the spices and then increase them as you mix the frosting.

Each mini cupcake disappears in a couple sweet, spicy bites — so I’d be cautious with these, since even Sean found himself eating more than one at a time!

Cinnamon Sour Cream Cupcakes

Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, who adapted it from Bite Sized Desserts by Carole Bloom

• 4 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 TBSP cake flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a mini muffin tin (one that holds 24 minis, or two tins that hold 12) with baking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer on medium-high speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating for two minutes between additions. With the second egg, also add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer on low, add half these dry ingredients to the butter and sugar blend; mix until just incorporated. Add the sour cream; mix until just incorporated. Add the remaining dry ingredients; mix until mostly incorporated. Stop the mixer and fold the batter with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.

Using a small ice cream or cookie scoop, or just a regular tablespoon, fill the muffin tins ¾ of the way full. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack. Wait until they are completely cool to begin frosting!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from Cupcake Rehab

• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 – 2 ½  cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon chili powder
• ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon brewed coffee

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter until light and fluffy.

Add ½ cup powdered sugar, cocoa powder, spices, coffee and milk. Mix until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add 1 cup sugar and vanilla. Mix. Add the rest of the sugar, ½ cup at a time, and mix until desired consistency. If you need to, you can add ¼ cup more milk, or an additional ½ cup sugar.

Tagged as: cake, chocolate, cupcakes