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.
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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.

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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.