Chocolate Festival Recipe - Day of the Dead Cupcakes

This month I shall be hosting a stall the Chocolate Festival in the Cheese and Grain, Frome on 17^th November and have created this recipe for the occasion. http://www.lipsmacking.co.uk/chocolate-festival-2013/4566836238

It is intended to be fun, different and to show how chocolate goes with pretty much anything. It also gives me a great excuse to use this great stencil I bought on ebay last month. I found it at this shop http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Stenciland-Cake-Stencils?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 they have some great stuff! Everyone knows that chocolate and chilli go together, but the sweet, tangy, almost sherbert like lime topping makes it a real experience. I am very proud of this recipe. Granted it is a bit of a faff and quite honestly, you don’t have to go to the trouble of painting a skull on the top. In fact, why don’t you just come down to the festival and buy some?

Makes at least 12

Ingredients:

3 ½ oz self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ - 1 teaspoon of chilli powder (depends on your taste and the potency of your powder)

3 ½ oz soft brown sugar

3 tbsp cocoa

75 ml sunflower oil

50ml sour cream

2 eggs
50ml water

for the icing

Jar of sweet chilli jelly

250g pack of lime coloured ready to roll icing

Juice of 1 lime

Box of icing sugar

Pink food colouring

Day of the dead stencil (or whatever you have)

Method:

Preheat oven at 180C or gas mark 4 and line your tin with cases (12)

Put all your ingredients into a food processor and whizz till smooth. then add the water and whizz again till glossy. Check the potency of the mixture. You’re looking for an afterburn. Remember you can always add more but you can’t take it out!

Divide into the cases, but beware, you don’t want them to rise too high so don’t overfill. It really depends on the size of your cases but mine were standard and I had mixture left over to make about 3 or 4 more. 

Bake for about 15/20 minutes  (depending on your oven). Leave to cool completely on a rack

For the icing put the ready roll in a bowl and add the juice of the lime. This will make the icing do really sloppy. Gradually add icing sugar and keep stiring with a rubber spatula until you get something resembling the original consistency (i.e. something you can roll).

Roll out your icing to the desired thickness (not too thick as it will overpower the cake) and cut out circles the same circumference as your cakes (I found a glass which fit the bill)

Brush the cakes with the chilli jelly and carefully (you will probably have to use a spatula) lift the circles of icing onto your cakes. The jelly provides a ‘glue’ to stick the icing on. If the surface of your icing is wrinkled then wet your finger and smooth it over. Leave to dry completely.

Using a paintbrush paint the pink colouring onto the cakes through your stencil. Or freehand with a brush or edible food pen. Again, leave to dry. This bit isn’t essential but it does make your cakes look ace!