Chocolate Cupcakes with a Kick....For the spice lovers...

Alright, These cupcakes were a HUGE test on my part. I took them up to my friends lake cottage for a get together so the gentlemen would have something sweet to eat without losing any manliness.. <--spelling however I'm sure you all know what I mean!!!! This is My Chili, Cayenne pepper Cupcake, with a spicy buttercream, topped with a bittersweet red pepper flake chocolate peice.
I tested this with my Dad, a great friend Kyle, and one other person, sorry I forgot his name, I believe it may have been the second time I've met him :)  Heres the recipe.


Basic Vegan Chocolate Cupcake,
from http://www.chow.com/recipes/10794-basic-vegan-chocolate-cupcake

1 C. Soy Milk
1 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 C. Granulates Sugar
1/3 C. Canola Oil
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp, Almond, Chocolate or more Vanilla Extract
1 C. All Purpose Flour
1/3 C. Coca Powder, Dutch processed or regular
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans


** Whisk together soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the Sugar, oil, Vanilla extract and other extact, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a seperate bowl sift together the flour coca powder, baking soda, baking powder and Salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain. (small ones are okay.)


Heres my tweeks....
In a small bowl add spices to your taste level of heat.
Put togeter, again no measurement is the right measurement this is strictly how you want the heat level, I'm only going to give you the list of the spices (I didn't measure either)

**Chili Powder, Cayenne peper, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and red pepper flakes (all these spices were already in a powder form, besides the red pepper flakes, I crushed them before adding to the mixture.***
After all thes ingredients are incorporated with the chocolate mix, put in about a tablespoon of The Infused Spicy Red Pepper Oil....Taste your batter to see if its at your desired heat level, if not add more. START SMALL and add more you can always add more not take out***

If your batter tastes the way you want a good spice level pour into muffin tins. and bake for 18-20 minutes. For a normal sized cupcake, i made these minis, and they took about 10-15 minutes.

While these are baking Prepare your frosting, again I got this frosting from:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/10856-vegan-fluffy-buttercream-frosting

Vegan Buttercream Frosting

1/2 C. Nonhydrogenated Shortening
1/2 C. Nonhydrogenated Margarine
3 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar, sifted if clumpy
1 1/2 t. Vanilla Extract
1/4 C. Plain Soymilk or soy creamer

*Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined & fluffy, add sugar and beat for 3 minutes
* Add vanilla and soy milk beat for 5-7 minutes until fluffy
**I also added some chili and cayenne pepper to the frosting i did it more for a little kick and also some decorations :)

Minis...only about 10-15 minutes in the oven

I also was able to Pull out a cookie sheet, and line it with was paper.
Start melting chocolate in the microwave, after the chocolate is fully melted let cool to touch, place in piping bags and on the wax paper pipe out any design you want. Before the chocolate dries, make sure to sprinkle your red pepper flakes.

Assemble your Cupcakes, I know this is a lot but do your prep work and refridgerate things, makes time fly.
to assemble..
after cupcakes have cooled, ice the cupcake with a star tip, or your perferred tip, the top with the fully cooled chocolate pieces on top.

There is a lot of work in these cupcakes probably more then I've ever done before, but trust me when I say with the reviews I got on the kick level you won't be sorry, The guys really ate them up :)