Mayan Chocolate Cupcakes — Stacie Lamoore

Recently I’ve watched through the Cupcake Wars series on Netflix. When several of the contestants mentioned this type of cupcake I was very curious. I had never heard of Mayan cupcakes so I decided I had to look them up and see what made them different. I found out that in order to make them “Mayan” I needed to add cinnamon, cayenne and nutmeg to a chocolate cupcake. I then decided to take my normal cupcake recipe and add those ingredients. It took a couple of tries before I found the perfect quantity of each to add.I was called an evil genius by the recipients of these cupcakes. The spiciness of the cayenne pepper pairs excellently with the sweet chocolate, cinnamon and nutmeg. While you can completely taste the cayenne it is not overpowering.The frosting on these cupcakes is also “Mayan”. I added cinnamon, cayenne and nutmeg in order to complement the cupcakes. You can easily leave those out though, I just thought they really added a little more spice to the overall taste. These cupcakes would really pair well with any sort of chocolate frosting if you don’t feel like the extra spice. I also feel like a cinnamon –vanilla frosting would also really showcase the flavors of the cupcake without adding additional spiciness.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:84]