Iron Cupcake Basil

It's Iron cupcake time again! This month the theme ingredient is Basil! I actually planted a bunch of basil in John's backyard... yeah he didn't know about it until after it was done :D and as John likes to say when I do things I'm not supposed to "it's a good thing you're cute" hahaha

Anyway I went out to my mini herb garden and to my surprise a little candied basil plant had started growing!

Ok not really... but it's a fun little story :)

The sponsors for this month are: ETSY artist METAL SUGAR, her link is: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14597777 as well as to our corporate sponsors HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS http://www.fiestaproducts.com , HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com , JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com ; CUPCAKE COURIER http://www.cupcakecourier.com and TASTE OF HOME http://www.tasteofhome.com.

Voting begins Sunday Sept 28th - and ends Thursday Oct 1st at noon. So make sure to vote for me!! please and thank you :)


Basil Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients

• 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped basil
  
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
3. Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
4. Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
   

Now for the chocolate topping and candied basil!

Chocolate Frosting
Mix equal parts melted semi sweet chocolate and fat free cool whip. Stir until blended and spoon onto cupcake tops

Candied Basil
Brush clean basil leaves lightly with water and place facedown into sugar. Dry on sheet pan, sugar-side-up, for 2 to 3 hours.

Decorate tops of cupcakes with leaves or pick a small flowering top of a basil plant and place into center of cupcake to make it look like a mini basil plant is growing.

Chow!