Iron Cupcake:Earth, Chili Pepper

By now you all know that I have been "working" on my cupcake entry for the Iron Cupcake challenge for the entire month of August. Well, today I'm finally finished with it. It's been a lengthy process filled with deep contemplation, recipe seeking and tweaking, and design planning. I think I did a pretty damn good job on it! I'm not a fan of spicy food, but my husband LOVES hot stuff. So he was my guinea pig yesterday while I baked. I've been giving these to anyone who will dare to eat one, and have received nothing but pleasant surprise and praise by all. I even tried one myself and was very happy with the results. The filling (and frosting) really offset the warm heat of the chilis. Plus it's all gooey and yummy.

So, here it is -- my Chocolate Chipotle del Muertos -- a chocolate chipotle cake filled with lime pudding, topped with lime cream cheese frosting, and of course, a fondant sugar skull and chilis. Because I believe that skulls look good on everything!

Now, onto the serious part... VOTE FOR ME!!!

To vote, go to No One Puts Cupcake in a Corner
Voting will start on August 31st and run through September 4th.

There are cool prizes that have been donated for this competition, and you can help me win them! The winner gets all this:
The complete line of HEAD  CHEFS from Fiesta Products , a copy of the new book HELLO, CUPCAKE, a one-of-a-kind piece of original CAKESPY art by ETSY artist Jessie Oleson; a luxury hostess apron from JESSIE STEELE; the next generation of the CUPCAKE COURIER; and a new publication from the library of TASTE OF HOME BOOKS.

You can view all the entries for Iron Cupcake on the IRONCUPCAKE FLICKR GROUP page.

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Chocolate Chipotle Cupcake:
(Modified Basic Chocolate Cupcake from VCTOTW)

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch processed
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 chipotle peppers, seeded and minced (I used chipotles in adobo sauce)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. 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 to the soy milk mixture and beat till foamy. Stir in chipotle peppers. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain.
3. Pour into liners, filling three quarters of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.
- - -

Lime Pudding Filling:
1 pkg Mori-Nu silken firm tofu
8 oz soy cream cheese
1/2 cup persian lime juice
2 teaspoon grated lime zest
2 pkgs Mori-Nu Mates vanilla pudding mix
1 tablespoon liquid sweetener (I used maple syrup)


Drain water from the tofu. In a food processor blend tofu and lime juice until creamy and smooth - about a minute or so. Add the rest of the ingredients, and blend again until smooth - for about 3 minutes. Allow to chill 2-3 hours or until firm.

- - -

Lime Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 tablespoons margarine, softened
8 ounces Tofutti Cream Cheese
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
4 to 5 cups confectioners sugar

Cream together butter, cream cheese, lime juice and zest with an electric mixer. Add 4 cups confectioners sugar one cup at a time and continue beating. If frosting is too thin add more confectioners sugar, one tablespoon at a time until proper consistency is reached.

Peanut buttery Goodness

Peanut buttery Goodness
Originally uploaded by nicoleisvegan

I made a quick batch of vanilla cupcakes yesterday for Raise Studio's PR firm to sample. They looked boring with just the ganache on them, so this morning before our noon meeting (and cupcake hand-off time), i whipped up some peanut butter frosting from VCTOTW and piped it on there. I hadn't made it before, and wow! is it yummy. I even was kind enough to save a beater for Em to enjoy when she got home from school. (She promptly asked for another beater to lick).
Anyhow, I only made a dozen, so kevin & i didn't get to sample them. I'll need to make this again, or at least the peanut butter frosting!

Oh, and I should have my Iron Cupcake:Earth (chili peppers) entry up within a couple days. I just haven't had the time to make them yet! Voting will start on August 31st at 12 noon CST and close on September 4th at noon CST. Voting takes place at http://mkecupcakequeen.blogspot.com NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER.

Cheers!

Again with the lavender...

lavender4
Originally uploaded by nicoleisvegan

This time around they were even better. I think i'll add this one to my repertoire. They were so good in fact, that the birthday girl ate many more than she ought to have. (you know i love you r.)
The photographs are better this time as well - the first ones (below) were somewhat of a rush job : )

Lavender Cupcake

This is my latest obsession.
I was determined to make a cupcake using lavender buds. I have to admit that at first i didn't even know where to acquire lavender for cooking! But alas, the farmers market carries culinary lavender - and it was cheap, too!

Next issue: I wasn't sure how to get the lavender in there. But the expansive knowledge base that is the internet was a real help! I simmered a few tablespoons of the buds in soy milk (thanks to The Cupcake Underground for the idea)- which is part of the chocolate cupcake recipe I used from VCTOTW. It gave it just enough flavor to be noticeable, but not bitter. My house smelled fantastic while they baked!
I made lemon cream cheese frosting and grated a lavender chocolate bar on top.

The ones I shared with others for a friend's birthday had little purple sage flowers and sprigs of lavender leaves on top, but we didn't have time to take pictures :(

Everyone really liked them. I must say they are pretty grown up though. Not sure how kids other than mine would like them.

I made more today, which will be photograph-able tomorrow, once frosted. I think they might be even better than the first batch!

Iron Cupcake Ingredient Announced!

Well, it's official, the challenge ingredient for the Iron Cupcake: Earth competition this month is Chili Pepper. Kevin will love this - all that taste testing he'll get to do. Emily, I'm guessing will not be as happy, as she likes to lick the spatula and beaters : (
I'm already beginning my research and brainstorming...luckily I have a full 4 weeks to work on it.
How fun!