Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temp
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup hot dark coffee
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• For topping -
• ½ cup lightly roasted macadamias (whole or chopped)
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate (chopped)
• ½ cup whipping cream

Directions

• Directions
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9inch square cake pan, line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper. Measure out cake flour, cocoa, chili powder, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cayenne. Sift them together 3 times.
• Using an electric mixer with a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time and continue beating until mixture is light, fluffy and almost tripled in volume.
• Fold 1/3 dry mixture into the butter-egg mixture then add ½ the buttermilk and ½ the coffee. Fold in another 1/3 of the dry mixture then the remaining buttermilk and coffee. Finish with the remaining dry mixture and the vanilla extract.
• Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake until cake springs back when touched lightly (30-35 minutes). Then turn out of pan and leave on the rack until completely cool. Place the rounds in paper cupcake liners.
• Use a 2 ½ inch cookie cutter to cut rounds from the cake. Place the rounds in paper cupcake liners.
• Make the topping: If the macadamias are raw, roast them in a 350 degree oven, turning once until they just begin to color. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl, heat the whipping cream till the point of a bowl and pour it over the chocolate. Let cool to warm then drizzle it over the cupcakes. Top with macadamia nuts.