Recipe: Ancho Chili Devil's Food Cupcakes with Roasted Macadamias

ANCHO CHILI DEVIL'S FOOD CUPCAKES
WITH ROASTED MACADAMIAS

FOR THE CAKE:
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons Ancho chili powder*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup hot dark coffee
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
FOR THE TOPPING:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup lightly roasted macadamias**, whole or chopped (about 2 oz.)

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch square cake pan, line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

Measure out cake flour, cocoa, chili powder, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cayenne. Sift them together 3 times.

Using an electric mixer with a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until mixture is light, fluffy and almost tripled in volume.

Fold 1/3 dry mixture into the butter-egg mixture, then add 1/2 the buttermilk and 1/2 the coffee. Fold in another 1/3 of the dry mixture then the remaining buttermilk and coffee. Finish with the remaining dry mixture and the vanilla extract. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly. Then turn out of pan and leave on the rack until completely cool.

Use a 2-1/2-inch cookie cutter to cut rounds from the cake. Place the rounds in paper cupcake liners.

TO MAKE THE TOPPING:
Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the whipping cream to the point of a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Let cool until just warm then drizzle it over the cupcakes. Top with macadamia nuts.

*Ancho chili powder can be made by stemming and seeding whole Ancho chilies and pulverizing them in an electric spice mill or coffee grinder. Or the powder should be available at markets featuring Southwestern ingredients.

**If the macadamias are raw, roast them in a 350 degree oven, turning once, until they just begin to color.

Notes: Bobby Flay, chef of NYC's Mesa Grill, prepared this dessert for a Meals on Wheels benefit meal at the Frontera Grill in Chicago. Blended with the cocoa and coffee, the chili powder is only mildly hot and adds something approximating a fruit flavor.

Makes 9
Source: Chicago Tribune Magazine 3/23/93