Spicy Chocolate Jalapeno Cake

kolibri's Note:

Here's chocolate cake with a difference! This isn't a dare - jalapenos work absolutely beautifully with chocolate... And it's not as far fetched as you might think as Mayas used chili with cocoa thousands of years ago. (The amount of baking soda/powder has been changed to 2 based on the reviews.)

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

Jalapeno cake

• 1 cup chocolate chips, melted an cooled
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda or 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 -2 tablespoon canned jalapeno, chopped finely

Chocolate frosting

• 3 -3 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Grease two 9 inch round baking pan.
2. Beat sugar, butter and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs, beat for a minute. Beat in the melted chocolate. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt, then beat into chocolate mixture alternatively with the milk. Stir in jalapenos and pour into pans.
3. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pans for for 20 minutes, then invert into wire racks to cool completely.
4. For the frosting, beat sugar, milk, butter, cocoa, vanilla and salt in a small bowl until mixture is smooth. Frost the cake and decorate the side with almonds.

Reviews

[Ginger Rose]

My family was seriously surprised by this cake. However it did taste lovely! I was very optimistic when I cut up the chili, thinking it would disintegrate...but it didn't, so its important to make sure its cut in very small pieces otherwise you can get some very spicy mouthfuls of cake;-)! Thanks for this unusual recipe!

[Wistaria]

This is an amazing cake. It's just the right texture-light and fluffy, yet moist. The cinnamon/jalapeno combination with the chocolate is genius! It's not an overpowering spicy, but I could definitely tell it was there. I used 1 fresh minced jalapeno, which ended up being about a tablespoon and a half. I used the chocolate buttercream frosting Chocolate Buttercream Frosting instead of this frosting. That one was less sweet, I think. I really liked the almonds on the cake, too. I wouldn't hesitate to make this again for company or just any time!

[Elmotoo]

Oh wow is this good cake!!! But there was no discernible jalapeno flavor. I think I'll use a cream cheese icing next time because this was just so sweet. It is still the best cake I ever made! Oh, I used 2tsp baking soda. The recipe says baking SODA but other reviewers are using baking POWDER? I used soda. It worked very nicely. Thanks!!