Chocolate Cake with Lucifer's Nuts
Submitted by SNOWBALL
Sugar-crusted pecans spiked with habanero chile powder, folded into chocolate cake batter for a sweet-heat surprise in every bite. Five ingredients, ten minutes, and your chocolate cake will never be boring again.
YIELD
1 cakePREP
10 minCOOK
10 minREADY
20 minLucifer’s Nuts sound like trouble, and that’s exactly the point.
Pecan halves get a quick sugar glaze in a hot skillet, then a generous hit of habanero powder that clings to every sticky surface.
Fold them into your favorite chocolate cake batter right before it goes in the oven, and you’ve got a dessert that starts with familiar cocoa richness and finishes with a slow, sneaky burn.
The chocolate-and-chile combination is ancient (hello, Aztec hot chocolate), and once you try it in cake form, plain chocolate cake starts to feel like it’s missing something.
Pro Tips
- Separate the pecan halves on wax paper while they’re still warm. Once the sugar sets, they’ll cement together.
- Start with half the habanero if you’re heat-shy. You can always add more next time, but you can’t take it back.
- These candied pecans are just as good scattered over brownies, ice cream, or eaten straight off the wax paper while nobody’s watching.
Ingredients
Directions
Over a medium-high heat, stir the water and sugar in a small teflon skillet until the sugar is disolved.
Add the nuts, and stir constantly until the water is mostly evaporated (about 3 to 4 minutes).
Add the chile and salt to coat well, and stir constantly until the water is gone.
Remove the nuts to a piece of wax paper, separating the pecan halves from each other with a fork if necessary.
Let cool, and incorporate them into the cake batter just before pouring it into the pan.
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