That’s FIERCE

When CB announced the “Is your cupcake fierce” blog event, I jumped all over it. I have been slacking in the blogging events this month (although in my defense, my key ingredient for CH still hasn’t come and I didn’t really have ~10 hrs to set aside to bake the DB bread this month).

In honor of the viewers choice designer on Project Runway, Christian, CB challenged us to make a fierce cupcake. I think my little guy is quite fierce. It looks like a normal old chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. BUT, when you bite into it, you find that it’s anything but ordinary. You’ll taste the peanut butter and chocolate combination first, and then the chili powder/paprika taste comes in at the end. Hubby thought the flavors were too intense and could only handle one bite (he’s not a big fan of chocolate – weird, I know). I on the other hand ate 2 in a row. I styled up a couple cupcakes with some chocolate “art” on top.

Be sure to tune in to the season finale of Project Runway on March 5th. It’s guaranteed to be fierce.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes – adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take over The World – makes 12
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil – I used applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
12 mini PB cups

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl and set aside a few minutes to get good and curdled.

Add the sugar, oil, vanilla, and almond extract to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain.

Pour into liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Put one PB cup into each cupcake (do not press down – I pressed down and they all sank to the bottom). Bake 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Dairy Free Mexican Hot Chocolate Frosting – from FoodNetwork.com – I made a 1/2 batch and it frosted all 12 cupcakes (full batch listed below)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature – I used Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature – I used Earth Balance Natural margarine
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

Using a handheld electric beater, cream the cream cheese and butter together thoroughly.

Add the chili power and cinnamon, mixing to incorporate.

Add the salt, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar.

Finally, mix in the melted chocolate and blend thoroughly until smooth.

If additional thickening is needed, add more sifted confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time, until a spreadable consistency is reached.

Fierce Cupcake Assembly
After the cupcakes have cooled, pipe frosting onto them.

Lightly dust with paprika.

Top with chocolate art (optional, directions below).

Chocolate “art”
I just kind of made this up as I went. If anyone has better ideas, let me know. First got my setup ready. I lined a cookie sheet with foil. I then crinkled the foil into waves (if that makes any sense). Then I took another piece of parchment paper and tore into strips (I made them triangle shapes strips). I laid the strips on the cookie sheet.

Then I melted some chocolate. I spooned a big dollup of chocolate onto the fat part of the strip. Using a spatula, I brushed the chocolate over the triangle. Once the traingles were all covered, I popped the tray into the fridge to let the chocolate set. The “waves” in the foil caused the strips of chocolate to have some movement to them. Once the chocolate was set, the chocolate peeled right off the parchment strips. And VOILA chocolate art to top your cupcakes with!

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11 Responses to “Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Bars”

  1. #
    1
    stephchows — October 27, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    mmm they look so super moist!

  2. #
    2
    Cupcake Activist — October 27, 2009 at 4:11 pm

    Yum! Those look really good! I’ve never tried white chocolate with pumpkin.

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    3
    nutmegnanny — October 28, 2009 at 1:41 am

    Wow white chocolate and pumpkin! What a delicious combination…yum!

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    4
    Erin — October 28, 2009 at 2:02 am

    I made those last year, and MAN OH MAN aren’t they good!

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    5
    Sweet and Savory — October 28, 2009 at 4:01 am

    I have in the oven, a chocolate-pumpkin streusel brownie. Now, I want to make this too.

    You have great recipes. Thanks.

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    6
    The Novice Chef — October 28, 2009 at 4:03 am

    These look delicious! And I totally do not blame you for having a couple before taking them to give away!

  7. #
    7
    bridget {bake at 350} — October 31, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    I love that you ate 2 while you were cutting them! 🙂 That sounds familiar!

    They look wonderful!

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    8
    Tessa — October 31, 2009 at 5:33 pm

    These are the same bars I made, but I added cinnamon chips per recommendation from Maria at Two Peas in their Pod. They were great! Glad to see they turned out well for you too!

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    9
    Ingrid — November 2, 2009 at 7:05 pm

    I totally agree I’m not crazy about chocolate and pumpking together. Another great flavor with pumpkin (in my opinion) is gingerbread.

    I’m definitely adding this to my list of pumpkin recipes that will be baked from here until the kiddos say no more! 🙂
    ~ingrid

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    10
    Jade — November 3, 2009 at 10:13 pm

    I love making bars. These look amazing. I will definety try these soon!

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    11
    Jessica — October 29, 2010 at 1:21 pm

    I made these last night to take tailgating at a college football game tonight and they are SO yummy! I used semisweet chips instead of white chocolate, but I bet they’d be good either way! I’m Really glad you warned that the mixture might look like it curdled after adding in the pumpkin, because I think it would have freaked me out and I would have thought I did something wrong!

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