Habanero Chocolate Cake

I know what you're thinking..."That sounds gross!" But it is surprisingly good! Some of you may have heard of jalapeno chocolate cake or jalapeno chocolate candy; these were indeed inspirations for this cake. I had originally made it for a coworker who loves Habaneros. I think he was just kidding when he requested a Habanero cake but thought it would be a fun novelty cake even if it wasn't edible. Here I show how to reproduce that cake, along with a jalapeno section, and a confetti cake section for the more faint of heart in the office. (Read: if the Habanero cake is inedible you still have some cake to celebrate with.)

Step 1 Materials

Ingredients:
2 boxes of chocolate cake mix & necessary ingredients instructed on box
1 box of confetti cake mix & necessary ingredients instructed on box
6 Habaneros (3 for cooking 3 for show)
5 Jalapenos (3 for cooking, 2 or show)
1 bunch of cinnamon disks (1 wrapped for show)
Enough frosting for your cake (This will depend on how many layers and how much frosting you like on your cakes)

Tools:
Baking pans for cake (use what ever shapes you want)
Rigid cardboard covered with foil (or equivalent serving tray)
Food processor (a blender might work in a pinch but I haven't tried it)
Mortar and pestle
Frosting bag with your favorite tip.

Comments

[15zhangfra]

about time someone made a spicy cake, I'll go and ask my sister to bake one now...

[ralegg]

I made this into Habanero Cake Balls by taking the finished habanero cake, smashing it up into a spongy powder, adding some liquid non-dairy creamer, forming the mix into balls, freezing them, melting chocolate and rolling the frozen cake balls in the chocolate and again refreezing them. I made this for a going away party at work and we were all making cultural foods, this worked great and everyone liked it (the best was how everyone slowly kept refilling their cups of pop and water after having the cake balls, I didn't tell them until everyone had tried one!).

[ecogeeko]

Wow! That's a great idea! Kinda sounds like a habanero-chocolate truffle or something. I'm glad your office enjoyed them. =)

[rainbowcake]

mmm 2 of my favorite things!! i gotta try this!!

[GorillazMiko]

Spicy chocolate, I say and ask people about that at school all the time. Same with sour chocolate. +1 vote. +1 rating.

[xxxafterglow]

Spicy chocolate is awesome. Sour + chocolate, super good. My PMS lunch in college would sometimes be a Toblerone bar and a large fresh squeezed lemonade. Little nutritional value but delicious.

[PKM]

People looked at me like I was a crazy person when I told them this, but the best white chocolate I think I have ever tasted (and one of the best chocolates overall) is lemon and black pepper flavoured (by a company called Kschokolat or something like that).

OM NOM NOM

[A N M]

I found that flavor (citron & poivre) here:

http://www.chocolat-frey.com/

Though Target used to carry that flavor, apparently they do no longer. Time for an email campaign?

[porcupinemamma]

Interesting. Have you ever tried making a cake from tomato soup? it's really good.

[iglo1234]

how many does this serve?

[tabi]

As a matter of fact, chocolate is a prhispanic delicacy, it was here when the spaniards came. The aztecs used to make it with hot chilies and water (there were no cows to milk) and it migrated to Spain and Austria to become the hot cocoa we all have... ;) In some places like Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco and Guatemala it is still made with hot water (it is called chocolate de agua, or water chocolate) as either a breakfast drink or a late afternoon one, spiked with powdered chile and/or cinnamon

[Goodhart]

Now back to that phenomena of the milk vs. habanero pepper acid. I have not done any extensive research on this but it is my hypothesis that this neutralizing chemical reaction will go on as long as you have the cake around.

Some info then: first, the Heat comes from capsicum, and despite rumors to the contrary, it is an "alkaline" substance (little known fact: alkalines can burn worse than acids sometimes).
Capsicum is also dissolved in oil. Part of the delay is from it's dispersion in the cake. Part of that is due to the milk fats in the milk used. And there are some fatty acids in milk too, so a little bit of the alkaline will be neutralized.
Personally, I wouldn't use the habaneros, but the jalepenos sound good. :-)

I have experienced Jalepeno chocolates already; I like the idea of using that in a cake.

[Thoth]

Its not an acid-base reaction that neutralizes some of the heat rather the milk protein casein is lipophilic (fat loving) and bind to the capsaicin molecule's hydrocarbon tail. By binding to it, it makes the capsaicin unavailable to bind to your taste receptors. Also casein has a higher affinity for capsaicin than the taste receptors on your tongue, that is why dairy helps cool your mouth off.

[n0ukf]

The heat from the pepper is neutralized by sugar, as indicated by the Scoville measurement http://www.cosmicchile.com/xdpy/kb/scoville-heat-unit.html

[Goodhart]

That never seems to work for me :-) (like I hinted at below, the higher Cocao chocolates have a lot less sugar)

[ecogeeko]

That was a very insightful link, THANKS! I've heard some horror stories about that Mad Dog 347!

[Goodhart]

Hmm, I find that pickles (with the vinegar) seems to work faster....but then that might just be me :-) Thanks for the info on why milk (especially whole milk) helps some too.

[Goodhart]

ALSO, the "hot" chocolate I have eaten are not milk chocolates but 73% or higher dark chocolates.. I like them :-)

[jessyratfink]

I had some amazing drinking chocolate with habaneros last week, so this is looking better and better!

[Luisthegutiarist]

Jalapeno ice cream HAS GOT to be next! MMM!:)

[Jay117]

lol "hot" chocolate cake.

[depayton]

I made the Habanero cake. I used a recipe that called for .33 of oil and no milk. I put the cleaned habaneros in a food processor with the oil and completed the recipe. It was an amazing cake. Nice and warm with sweetness to counter act the hotness. Good job on the cake. I love it, I made my friends one.

[myrrhmaid]

It's making me drool! Clever idea of making one like the thermometer on the salsa bottles! I have to try it someday!

[!Andrew_Modder!]

hmm.. lol habanero?
idk but i know in most of my chocolate cakes i put just a tad of chili powder in! =) it well... idk you cant taste it, it just makes it like,... better!? haha

[fungus amungus]

I'm so curious about eating this cake. I also love the decorations on top. Reminds me of the gelato displays.

[killerjackalope]

The chocolate with habanero or jalapeno is damn fine stuff I'll be making this.

[killerjackalope]

Mmm I havn't seen cakes yet, granted I can aquire chocolate with habaneros, jalapenos or something else in it, I have a notion its a chili of a variety...