When Fandoms Attack: Spicy Dark Chocolate-Coffee Cupcakes

So, about two years ago, the husband was advised, nay ordered, by a friend to play a new (well, newly discovered) video game. it was around the time that World of Warcraft died down in our household and, while I was still busy with grad school, my husband was looking for something to fill the time in the evenings and on weekends. World of Warcraft (or WoW) was a huge deal in our house until then. We were part of a guild and we ran raids and did dungeon runs together. But, just before our wedding, we decided that we needed to focus our attention on, well, our wedding, and both agreed to stop playing. We both realized that WoW wasn't holding our attention as much as it did before and a few months after we got married, we cancelled our accounts. One of our good friends had recently picked up a game called Mass Effect. It was a sci-fi space-faring RPG and apparently it grabbed our friend more than any other game before it. The husband was intrigued and borrowed a copy from another friend who had played it and finished it. The husband was, for lack of a better word, enraptured by the game. He couldn't put it down. He dove headfirst into the world of Mass Effect (or ME) fandom and joined all the fan communities on LiveJournal, even got a handle/profile on the game forums. Soon after he finished the first one, the sequel came out and I don't think I saw him for days as he consumed every bit of that game. His fandom grew and he started to write fanfiction, the sort of level-cap to any fandom. During this time, he kept suggesting that I play, too. Given the timing, I didn't really have much in the way of free time, but during one of my breaks I picked up ME1 and started playing. I loved it. I couldn't get enough of it. While my fandom never fully capped like my husband's, I was in it for the long-haul. I played through ME1 multiple times and imported all my saved games into ME2; bought the downloadable content; bought ME-themed apparel; the works. When ME3 released earlier this year, we both ordered our own copies of the Collector's Edition of ME3. While this certainly isn't the forum for expressing how we eventually felt about the trilogy's ending, suffice it to say we're still hooked. ME remains a huge deal in our household. While I might not be writing my own fanfiction, I help proofread the husband's works and I follow a few choice fanfiction authors online now. So yeah, pretty big deal.

But, La Petite Chef, how is this related to food? Oh, dear reader, everything in my life can be related to food. Sometimes I feel like Monica on Friends when she's told that the only reason she became a chef was so people would like her (that's another fandom entirely, believe me). I tell you about this Mass Effect fandom to lay the groundwork for what I did last year.

Last year was the husband's 30th birthday. One of those milestone birthdays and we went all out. I even organized with one of his best men at our wedding to come up from LA to visit and celebrate with us. We had a ton of people over at my parent's house and cooked up a huge variety of street-style Mexican tacos. We had carne asada, carnitas, grilled chicken, and even some grilled portobello mushrooms for our vegetarian friends. Accompanying these we had all the condiments: homemade guacamole, pico de gallo, salsa verde, pickled onions. Let's just say the crowd did not leave hungry that day. The thing is, the husband did all of this himself. Well, okay, I helped a lot with the prep-work, but he manned the grill, and served everything up on his birthday. He loved it. I, on the other hand, kept the dessert a secret. I only asked him what kind of cupcakes he wanted. He simply said spicy chocolate. Off to the internet I went and found a beautiful recipe for Spicy Dark Chocolate-Coffee Cupcakes with Cardamom Buttercream. I ran it by him, he approved, and I made them. What the husband didn't know was how they were going to be decorated. Little did he know, I had been making sketches of my idea a few weeks leading up to the party. I wanted it to be perfect. I researched what I wanted to draw, bought a whole mess of food colorings, pastry bags, and piping tips. I spent the night before the party at my parent's house, baking and decorating and getting everything set up. I loved every minute of it. Only thing I wish I had was a picture of the two of us holding the tray of cupcakes on his birthday. Oh well, let's just say, he was pleased.

The cupcakes and buttercream was easy enough to make, really. I find cupcakes to be easier to bake than whole cakes and for almost every special occasion in the last 3 years, I've been happy to bake cupcakes for birthdays and other events. I made 2 batches of Root Beer Float Cupcakes for my niece and nephew's 5th birthday party, as well as cupcakes for the last few birthdays for the husband. These particular cupcakes were quite delicious. The spice was a little more subdued than I was expecting; there was definitely more coffee than spice, but I don't think I would try and add MORE spice as I wouldn't want the cupcakes to end up bitter. The cardamom buttercream was an excellent complement, although I was rather sick of cardamom after making these, considering how much I had to handle the frosting during the decorating phase. My nephew, who isn't big on cupcakes at all, said they were his favorite. The reason being is that I lightly ice my cupcakes. Like my nephew, I do not like a ton of frosting or icing on my cupcakes. It's too sweet, especially when all I want is the cake. So yeah, the cupcakes, both as food and a gift, went over well. Not everyone in the crowd understood the significance, but it was my gift to my husband. While my fandom will never surpass his completely, at least he knows I'm just as much of a fan in my own way.


Spicy Dark Chocolate-Coffee Cupcakes with Cardamom Buttercream Frosting
Makes about 1 Dozen, give or take


For the cupcakes:
1 stick Unsalted Butter, cut into 1″ pieces
2 ounces 99% Cacao Dark Chocolate, chopped
1 Cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Crushed Chili Pepper Flakes
1 Tablespoon Ground Coffee (fresh coffee, not instant)
2 Eggs
1 Cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Sour Cream


For the frosting:
2 sticks Unsalted Butter, softened
2-1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons Ground Cardamom


1. Preheat oven to 325F and line a non-stock muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. Combine butter and chopped chocolate in a double-boiler to melt, or place in a microwave-safe bowl and heat at 50% power in 30-second intervals until fully melted. (Keep an eye on that chocolate. It burns quickly in the microwave. I suggest 30 seconds on, remove, stir well, then determine if more heat is needed. It usually doesn't take more than a 2 turns in the microwave to fully melt).
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sat, red pepper flakes, and coffee grounds.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the egg and sugar, until well combined, then stir in the vanilla extract and sour cream. Add in the chocolate and stir. Finally, fold-in the flour mixture and stir until combined. Do not over-stir or else you'll end up with tough cake.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake cups.
6. Bake 18-20 minutes, rotating half-way through (this is a Martha Stewart trick, it ensures even baking), or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Remove to wire racks and cool before frosting.

To make the frosting: Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, about a 1/2-cup at a time, adding more when the first batch has completely been incorporated with the butter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. This slow mixing process will create a smoother frosting (an Alton Brown trick I learned). When you have about 1/2 cup of sugar left to add, mix in the vanilla extract and cardamom, then add the final 1/2 cup of sugar. You can make the frosting in advance just cover and place in the fridge. You'll need to whip it up a bit before frosting, since the butter will harden when cool.
Credit: Sugar Crafter