Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

About a month ago when I was for some reason or another on a baking spree (and feeling SUPER Mexican) I searched the internet far & wide for the perfect Mexican chocolate cupcake recipe. I felt like every recipe I found claimed to be "Mexican (hot) chocolate" flavored, but when I looked at the ingredients it would often list anything but Mexican chocolate.
Tell me how that makes sense?

Story about these cupcakes: I made them for a big relief society stake birthday party. & during our luncheon someone cut the music and said, "sisters, someone would like to know who made these cupcakes because they would like the recipe." They turned out to be mine! holy!!! So there you have it, verified proof that they are super scrumptious.
I'm actually posting the recipe because I just got an email reminding me about sending the someone from my little story this recipe.

Also, p.s. I changed the recipes I found to meet my taste & combined the best of both worlds

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes
(makes 24 cupcakes)

For the cupcakes:
1 box dark chocolate fudge cake mix (plus all the ingredients you need for that cake mix)
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp New Mexico red chili powder
A pinch of salt and pepper
1 disk of Mexican Chocolate (my favorite is Nestlé's Abuelita brand), cut into small bits the size of chocolate chips

For the frosting:
1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
½ cup brown sugar
cayenne pepper
¼ tsp Ghiradelli 60% Cacao bittersweet chocolate baking chips, chopped ♥
1 tsp red chili flakes

cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 400º F. Line your cupcake pan with liners.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the cake mix, cinnamon and chili powder, plus the salt and pepper. Add the rest of the ingredients the cake required (the mix I used called for 3 Large eggs, 1 cup of water 1/3 cup of vegetable oil). Stir until the mix is just combined then add the chocolate bits and stir until the chips are incorporated and all the dry ingredients are moistened. Don't over mix.

Put the batter into the cupcake liners and bake for 16 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes rest in the pan for a few minutes and then leave them to cool on a rack.

frosting:
In a large bowl, beat the cream until tiny bubbles appear. Slowly add the brown sugar, mixing until the cream is thick enough to pipe on the cupcakes. Stir in the cayene and top the frosting with flakes of chili and dark chocolate.

recipes adapted from: cupcakes. frosting