I have finally completed my entry for Iron Cupcake Earth’s challenge of chili pepper. I made two variations of my entry and chose the one I liked best.

My entry is a chocolate cupcake, filled with chili chocolate ganache, topped with a layer of chili chocolate ganache, frosted with peanut butter frosting and sprinkled with a dash of cayenne pepper.

My other variation was the same as the above, but with chocolate frosting.

I chose the one with peanut butter frosting because it tasted more interesting. I loved this cupcake; it tasted like a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting, but with an extra spicy tingle. When my husband took his first bite he said, “I don’t taste any chili in these!”. I smiled and waited. A second later, he said, “Oh, now I do!”.

What I also love about these cupcakes was the fact that I used our own chili peppers that we grew in our garden. We dried them and kept them to use for later. I ground them up today and mixed them up in the chocolate ganache, along with a dash of cayenne pepper.

I didn’t post a cross section of this cupcake because the chili chocolate ganache was so dark that you couldn’t even tell that the chocolate cupcake was filled with the ganache in the photos!

The winner of Iron Cupcake Earth receives prizes from Cakespy’s Etsy shop, Cupcake Courier, Fiesta Products, Hello, Cupcake, Jesse Steele, and Taste of Home.

Recipes:

Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from a post at Cupcakes Take The Cake
makes 12-14 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method
Preheat oven to 375, then turn it down to 350 just prior to baking

Beat the butter with an electric mixer until it is soft, then add sugar. Beat about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time beating until they are well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk them to incorporate them.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar and beat it just to combine. Add 1/2 of the liquids (milk & vanilla), scrape down bowl and beat to combine. Continue adding the dry and wet ingredients alternately making sure you END WITH THE DRY.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3′s of the way.

Bake for about 20-22 minutes. Do not overbake! Allow to cool, then frost.

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Chili Chocolate Ganache
Adapted from Cupcake Bakeshop
makes about 1/2 cup ganache, you’ll probably have some leftover

Ingredients
1/4 cup + 3 tblsp + 1/2 tsp heavy cream
1 tblsp + 1/2 tsp butter
1 3/4 tsp ancho chili powder
1 small pinch ground cayenne pepper
3.6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

Method
Heat cream and butter over medium heat until butter is melted and cream bubbles around saucepan edge.

Place peppers and chopped chocolate in a medium sized bowl, pour heated cream and butter over the chocolate.

Let the mixture sit for about 30 seconds then start whisking it until smooth.

Set aside mixture and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon, until it cools enough to use.

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Peanut Butter Frosting
Adapted from Shazam In The Kitchen

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

Method
In large bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk. Mix well, adding more milk as needed to make a fluffy spreadable frosting. Sprinkle with a very small pinch of cayenne pepper if desired.