Aztec Gold

I've been obsessed with the idea of making a spicy cupcake, like the Aztec Gold Truffles at the Chocolate Spike in Blacksburg. (the picture above shows a mini bar of Aztec Gold chocolate, to which I compared the taste)

I found some recipes for chili-chocolate cupcakes, but I wanted some other flavors too, so I ended up adding cinnamon and orange flavors as well. Next time I will add ginger, too.

I also bought some edible gold dust at Michael's and dusted the cupcakes before bringing them to the restaurant. I think a little detail like that makes people feel loads better about paying big bucks for cupcakes.

I mostly went off this recipe from chockylit at Cupcake blog.

Cupcakes
~24 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/4 cup water
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground pequin chilies
2 sticks butter
1-1/2 cups dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Boil water in a kettle then measure out 1-1/4 cup.
2. Combine chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium sized bowl, add boiling water, whisk until smooth, set aside.
3. Sift flours, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Add the ground pepper, set aside.
4. In a standing mixer, beat butter until creamy.
5. Add the brown sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
6. At medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beat well between each.
7. Add sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined.
8. Add about a third of the flour mixture, beat briefly until combined.
9. Add about half of the chocolate mixture, beat briefly until combined.
10. Repeat, adding flour, chocolate, then flour. Beat until just combined. Scrape down bowl if needed.
11. Fill cupcake papers about 3/4s full. Bake at 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean

Chili Chocolate Ganache Frosting

1-1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon ground pequin chilies
12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
2-3 cups powdered sugar, optional

1. Heat the cream over medium heat until it bubbles around saucepan edge.
2. Place pepper and chopped chocolate in a medium sized bowl.
3. Pour heated cream over the chocolate
4. Let the mixture sit for about 30 seconds then start whisking it until smooth.
5. Add butter in pats and mix until combined.
6. set aside mixture and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon until cool.
7. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Optionally you can add sifted powdered sugar and beat until combine. This will sweeten the frosting and make it less rich and intense. Also helpful if you are low on chocolate and want to stretch the frosting a bit further…

However, I couldn't find pequin chilies, so I used cayenne pepper and cinnamon instead.

When heating the cream for the ganache, I added about a 1/2 tablespoon of orange zest and next time, I will grate some fresh ginger as well.

I added more cayenne and cinnamon in the ganache as well, and beat it after it cooled, adding a generous cup of confectioner's sugar.

making the ganache:

The cupcakes fell a lot when they came out of the oven, and I think it's because I over mixed them. Who knows though. Next time I'm going to try my Martha chocolate cake recipe and just add my spices. It will be less dense- though with this cupcake the density is pretty nice.

cupacakes cooling on new baking racks:

I must say that I LOVE these cupcakes. When selling them at the restaurant (a big hit, might I add) I described them as "warm" chocolate. I think people feel exotic when they eat spicy chocolate.

(this is my fantastic new double decker cupcake holder) (collapsable, too)