Marx Foods held a contest for food bloggers called: Recipe Challenge:  A Chile & A Spoon. Contestants were sent some dried chiles samples, from mild to hot and we were asked to create an original recipe that incorporates at least one chile variety. This recipe will be listed with some others and readers will have a chance to check them out and vote for a winner.

My recipe features the Smoked Serrano Chile sample paired with a quick and delicious microwave chocolate cake.

I have made a similar recipe before, however, this time I decided to heat things up by using dried chiles in the recipe. It’s no longer a Five Minute Cake, but it’s still just as tasty. I am looking forward to adapting the same techniques in my next batch of Black Magic Cupcakes. Now, for some music to cook by – Le Nocturne de Lumiere by BT.

My Test Kitchen

I attempted the techniques and recipe twice. In the tips section of the Marx Food site, they said to discard the liquid used to rehydrate the chiles, but I was curious to see if I could make a cake just by infusing the chile flavor into the liquid.

What Serrano chiles look like

Attempt #1

For the first cake I soaked two chopped chiles in straight from the fridge milk for 30 minutes. The milk did indeed taste like Smoked Serrano Chiles, so I measured the milk and added to the recipe – I discarded the chiles, even though I wanted to use them as a topping. When we tasted cake, there was an ever so faint smokey flavor, but definitely not what I was looking for.

Attempt #2

For this attempt, I gently warmed the milk (no more than 2-3 minutes) and added the chopped chiles to steep for 30 minutes. The milk turned a very light orangeish red and packed a bit more punch than the milk the night before. I also decided to reserve the chopped chilies to add to the cake.

Spicy Chocolate Mug Cake

Yield: 1 mug of cakey goodness, easily shared or devoured by 1

• 3 Smoked Cerrano Chiles
• 1/4 cup milk (recipe requires 3 tablespoons of milk)
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons applesauce
• 3 tablespoons chocolate chips
• Tiny tiny pinch of salt
• Splash of vanilla

Directions:

1. Gently warm 1/4 cup of milk and 3 Smoked Serrano Chiles (chopped – seeds included).
2. Steep chiles and milk for about 30 minutes.
3. Using a small strainer filter out the chilies from the milk, and measure out 3 tablespoons of milk into an oversized coffee cup (or other microwave safe cup like container). If you don’t have enough chile milk, add just a bit to make up for the difference.
4. Add all the other ingredients, plus soaked chilies to the cup.
5. Mix well.
6. Cook time varies. For mine, I cook for 2 mins on a 1300W microwave
7. Top with a dollop of hot fudge, marshmallow fluff – whatever you like, enjoy with a spoon!

Step by Step

Directions:

Gently warm 1/4 cup of milk and 3 Smoked Serrano Chiles (chopped – seeds included). Steep chiles and milk for about 30 minutes.

Using a small strainer filter the chilies from the milk, and measure out 3 tablespoons of milk into an oversized coffee cup (or other microwave safe cup like container). If you don’t have enough chile milk, add just a bit to make up for the difference.

Add all the other ingredients, plus soaked chilies to the cup. Mix well.

Cook time varies. For mine, I cook for 2 mins in a 1300W microwave.

Top with a dollop of hot fudge, marshmallow fluff – whatever you like, enjoy with a spoon! Thank you Marx Foods!!! Now to see what else I can make with some of these chiles, the thai ones are calling my name.