Monday, April 9, 2007

Fojos (Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes with Ancho Chili and Whipped Cream)

So bear with me for a bit, I'm gonna delve into old High School memories and ancient nerdiness of my best friend and me.

Janelle and I have known each other since we were about five, and we've been pretty damn close all that time. Back in our schoolin' days we often took on various art projects for our own fun and amusement, like drawing out elaborate comic books where my little brother would die a horrible death on every page, write stories, or even program 40+ hour role playing games (our first one's website is still up, only 12 hours long for a playthrough).

ANYWAYS, all of our creations always starred ourselves and two of our creations as companions. Mine was Bacon Goddess, a powerful being who spoke in Middle English, wore slutty leather outfits, and had the power of bacon which could turn things into bacon, pancetta, pork belly, etc. or use it to control universal chaos to blow shit up. Fojo was a red haired pyromaniac who loved bombs, had a robotic ferret named M.I.L.O. which turned into a flame thrower and a motorcycle, and often screamed out in joy whenever she set stuff like houses or people on fire.

I wanted to make some food to commemorate these characters whom I still love and adore. A bacon cupcake obviously isn't going to happen (I did think about it though) so I will give her a savory dish at some point. Fojo however, the crazy little vixen, gets a cupcake. I thought of doing a flambe cupcake, but all that butter and sugar but it seemed like a good way to explode myself, but I will revisit that idea later. So instead she gets rich chocolate and ancho chilies attributed to her.

Rich, sexy, and with a subtle-sweet kick, this cupcake is totally yumtastic. Ancho chilies are very sweet with only a little bit of heat and work as the backbone to many Mexican dishes including moles, so the combination of anchos and chocolate has a history of dancing well together. The whipped cream helps calm it all down a bit and lighten the overall texture and taste. By the by, this cupcake is TOTALLY GLUTEN FREE.

The picture of Bacon Goddess and Fojo was done by Janelle. She's a talented artist and if you need to have a piece of clever art designed she's a good person to go to. You can check out her website here. (SHAMELESS PLUG, GO!)

Hope you enjoy the cupcakes, and if you do be sure to check out the Chipotle Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcakes!

Update: I made the Bacon Goddess inspired cupcakes! Maple Bacon Cupcakes with Maple Frosting! Please be sure to check them out!

Flourless Ancho Chocolate Cupcakes
12 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

What You'll Need...
8 oz of semisweet chocolate (60% cacao)
3/4 cup of butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
4 eggs, separated, room temperature
2 1/2 tablespoons of ancho chili powder
pinch of salt

What You'll Do...
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it with butter over hot water in a double boiler type fashion.
2) Beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar until light and creamy.
3) Fold in the melted butter and chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. Fold in the ancho chili.
4) Beat egg whites until frothy by using an electric mixer; gradually add the remaining sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. For more great advice on working with egg whites, check out Shuna's post on Simply Recipes.
5) Fold in the beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture.
6) Spoon into cupcake papers. Bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes. The cupcakes will collapse due to no flour.
7) Let cool for 8 minutes, then use a knife to slowly and carefully work out the cupcakes. They can be fragile but if they break or goosh a bit, whatever. You'll probably need a fork to eat these anyway. Put a mound of whipped cream on and dust with cocoa powder and serve.

Whipped Cream
What You’ll Need...
3 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/3 – 1/2 cup of powdered sugar


What You’ll Do...
Place together in a mixing bowl until big, billowy and holds very stiff peaks.

18 comments:

  1. thanks for the link!

    But wait... why no bacon cupcake? You did a PEA cupcake!!

    I once made a bacon pot de creme with bacon brittle garnish for a bacon themed dinner. Let me tell you, bacon is Very versatile! (think maple syrup...)

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  2. Darling Bacon Goddess Loving Boy. You have outdone yourself. I was contemplating a flourless chocolate cupcake myself. But the ancho chile? Pure inspiration. I am genuflecting as we speak - er - type.

    Bravo.

    GF Goddess kisses,

    Karina

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  3. Garrett - I bow in the direction of the master cupcake maker. This is enlightened stuff. In essence, it's a souffle cupcake with chocolate base. And, it's gluten free. (Which in my world is a definite plus.) Because you have reached Master status, I have to agree with Shuna. You need to make maple. bacon. cupcakes. It must be.

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  4. Do you mean to bake these for 300 minutes or 30 minutes?

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  5. These cupcakes sound delicious and I can actually eat them because they are gluten-free! I am so excited to try one of your famous cupcakes! Two questions though. 1)I don't have, and have never been able to find, ancho chile powder. I do, however, have whole ancho chiles, which I immerse in hot water and then blend up into paste (which I freeze for soups and stews). Do you think this would work instead - if so, do I need to make other changes? 2) I'm curious to know what cupcake/muffin tin you use for all your creations. Thanks, Garrett!

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  6. Shuna & Brandon - Hmm... I am intrigued by the bacon idea...

    Karina- I'm so glad you like them!

    Annony- 30 minutes. 300 would set a fire.

    M- I would say just take the dried ones and powder them in a blender or something. I use a regular old 12 slot muffin tin from Safeway.

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  7. I think everyone tripped over the same issue! BACON CUPCAKES WITH BROWN SUGAR/MAPLE ICING! Oh come on!

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  8. I came across this recipe while scouring blogs for ideas. I'm totally excited to try this one, as I love chocolate and chilies together and I love the idea of a flourless cupcake.

    I'm visiting San Francisco next week-- I know you're in Sacramento, but I was wondering if you knew of any good bakeries in the Bay Area that I should try out while I'm in the area. I'm dying for delicious baked goods inspiration.

    Cheers!

    Hana

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  9. Yes, I'm with everyone else and would LOVE to see a bacon cupcake. But in the meantime, I'm still quite thrilled with this recipe as ancho and chocolate are two of my favorite flavors

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  10. Next time you are in New York.....http://www.burgersandcupcakes.us/made_of/index.html

    the boy

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  11. Here, here, bacon cupcake! send one this way!

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  12. I can't find any Ancho chili in my city, namely Hong Kong, could I replace it with Cayenne pepper? Also, in the recipe you posted, you didn't indicate when to put in the Ancho chili, should it be mixed in when chocolate & butter mixture is folded into the egg yolk mixture?

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  13. Annony - All fixed! Add it with the chocolate to the yolk mixture. As for cayenne, I would say no. Ancho is a sweet chili with only a bit of heat. Any dried, mild pepper should do but cayenne is little flavor and all heat.

    As for a bacon cupcake, I've been talking with Shuna, one is in the works... Dun dun dunnnnnnnn!

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  14. Here is a link to someone else's pic of the recipe!
    Souflee Cupcakes

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  15. Love the flourless Ancho Cocoa cupcake... however i have a question.. do you think it is possible to make a flourless red velvet cake? I want to make one with ancho's but the am not so sure ... any suggestions?

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  16. kaho - i really don;t know, red velvet is a totally different recipe. you'd have to try it out yourself. just check a bunch of soufle recipes and compare it to red velvet and work from there. :)

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  17. Anchos in the UK??.... Look no further than the Mexican Food specialits :

    http://www.mexgrocer.co.uk/Ancho-Chillies-100g-p-16142.html

    They've got loads of products that I love love love. The best range of authentic Mexican foods & chillies.

    Check them out folks! Saludos!!

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  18. These are baking in my oven right now! Whether or not the cupcakes themselves taste good, the batter was delicious. One thing though, the batter filled 23 cupcake cups, not 12. Thanks for the recipe!

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Hey, you're leaving a comment! That's pretty darn cool, so thanks. If you have any questions or have found an error on the site or with a recipe, please e-mail me and I will reply as soon as possible.
~Garrett