Recipe test - Vanessa Kimbell's Chocolate Chilli Cupcakes

I always like trying new recipes and experimenting with different flavours so when I volunteered to be a recipe tester for Vanessa and she asked me to try her Chocolate Chilli cupcakes, I happily obliged! It's a flavour I've been meaning to do as I think the combination of a quality bitter dark chocolate and the bite of chilli is a match made in heaven...

Vanessa stopped work to follow her dream of writing a cookery book. The book is called 'Prepped!: Gorgeous Food without the Slog - a Multi-tasking Masterpiece for Time-short Foodies' and you can read about her ups and downs on her blog. 

The recipe was very easy to follow, ingredients easily obtained, utensils and bowls already in my cupboards - I know I make cupcakes all the time so this is easy for me to say, but really, everything I used to make the recipe I'm sure you'd have in your cupboards too!

Yummy beetroot! Don't let this put you off if you're not a fan, the taste doesn't stand out but what you do get is a lovely moist cake. I always use Green & Black's cocoa powder, it has a higher cocoa content than most other brands so gives a denser flavour. Vanessa recommended I use Farrington's Rapeseed Oil as this was the only item not already in my cupboard.

The egg, oil and beetroot mixture... what's not to love about it? It's pink!!!

A lovely glossy chocolate mixture ready to go in the oven

23 minutes later, 18 glorious chocolate cupcakes cooling on the side

I love opening a bar of chocolate. I feel like I'm in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I'm looking for that winning Golden ticket.... I haven't found one yet but I'll continue to search!

Ganache ingredients - dark chocolate, unsalted butter and double cream

Cutting the top off the cupcakes so they can be filled with the Chocolate Ganache

Look how lovely it is.

The good thing about baking for yourself is that you get to lick the spoons!!!

The finished cupcake!

The verdict - lovely moist intensely dark chocolate cake followed by the warmth of the chilli at the back, just the right amount of heat.

I was really pleased with how they turned out and will definitely make them again. If you want to have a go at making them you'll just have to go out and buy the book when it's launched in May!

Until next time...

Julie x