Jul 20, 2011

Chili Chocolate Cupcakes

I recently attended a friend’s Mexican “Day of the Dead” themed party and offered to bake something sweet. Instantly when I thought Mexican I thought chili + chocolate. But in what form? I soon decided that chili chocolate cupcakes will not only be on theme, but perfect for a party setting. I used a fair amount of Lindt dark chili chocolate in this recipe, as well as chili infused water. You can of course tone this down (either by using ordinary dark chocolate or omitting the chili infused water) however next time I think I may try MORE chili in my infused water. I love the burn!

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

40 mins

Author: Swah

Serves: 12

Ingredients

Cupcakes

1-2 tsps dry red chili flakes
100g dark chili chocolate
3 eggs
230g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
½ cup milk
1½ cups self raising flour, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp instant coffee powder

Ganache

200g dark chocolate, chopped
40g butter
⅔ cup thickened cream
remaining ⅛ cup of chili infused water
Small chilies for decoration

Instructions

Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 12 muffin tins with cupcake papers.
Put 1-2 teaspoons of dry red chili flakes into ¼ cup of hot water to soak for 10 minutes.
Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave or on a low heat in a saucepan. Allow to cool slightly.
While chocolate is cooling, cream the eggs, butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add milk, flour and vanilla, and stir to combine.
Add the slightly cooled melted chocolate and sift in the cocoa powder. Add in ½ of the chili infused water (we will save the remaining ⅛ cup for the ganache).
Beat the mixture for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
Divide the mixture evenly between the cupcake papers (approximately ¾ full).
Bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and firm to touch.
Allow the cupcakes to cool slightly in their tin before turning out onto a wire rack.

Ganache

Melt the chocolate and butter in a medium-sized saucepan over a low heat. Stir constantly as this can burn easily. Once the mixture is mostly melted, take it off the heat and continue stirring (the residual heat will melt the remainder of the chocolate).
Remove from the chocolate mixture from the heat, add cream and stir. Rest for at least 10 minutes until the mixture becomes firmer and of a piping consistency.
Put the ganache in a piping bag and pipe onto cakes. Top with small fresh chilies.

These cupcakes were a roaring success at the party, although a lot of drunk people thought it would be a fun idea to eat the decorative chilis on top (thankfully they weren’t *too* spicy).

2 Comments

Québec August 15, 2011 at 10:29 pm

All of your recipes look delish!!! I can’t wait to try them! Starting with this one…my dad loves chocolate et spicy food, he’ll love this!
Beautiful blog, by the way!!

Reply
- Swah August 16, 2011 at 10:33 am
  
  Thank you so much! I hope your dad loves the cupcakes, chocolate and chili is a winning combination! :)
  
  Reply