Spice Up Your Chocolate Ganache With Cayenne And Chipotle

If you're looking for a dessert that is both sweet and spicy, look no further than Tasting Table's chile chocolate hazelnut thumbprint cookies, which utilize a spice-infused ganache to bring a kick of heat into the sweet treat. Cayenne pepper and chipotle chile pepper are used to transform the chocolate ganache into a spicier version of itself, which ultimately brings an interesting complexity to the usually sweet-only dessert. Of course, there is still plenty of sweetness going on in the ganache — these are cookies after all — but, if you're someone who loves a sweet-spicy combination, then you have to give this spicy ganache a try.

Making the spice-infused ganache also couldn't be any easier — you start by making the ganache as usual (combining chocolate and cream), then stir the spices into the melted chocolate, along with cinnamon and salt — and voila, the spiced-up ganache is good to go. Plus, with the stir-in method, you're able to adjust the amount of heat to match your preferences — you can just add a pinch of both cayenne and chipotle chile pepper if you just want a hint of spice, or you could double the amount of cayenne if you're looking to up the ante on the spiciness level. Or, if you're worried about going overboard with the spices, you can choose to include just one, either cayenne or chipotle, and leave the other one out.

Ganache is most commonly used to frost a cake — and there are plenty of cake flavors that would work as the perfect base for the spicy version of chocolate ganache. Let's start with chocolate cake — you'll get plenty of the traditionally sweet chocolate taste from the cake, so the frosting is the perfect place to bring in some unexpected heat. If you don't want to overwhelm the cake with spiciness, you could even use traditional chocolate ganache for the exterior of the cake, then use the spicy ganache for the middle layer of frosting for a surprise kick of heat. Additionally, using the spice-infused ganache on a chocolate mocha cake will make the dessert reminiscent of a Mexican mocha, a favorite at plenty of cafes.

Of course, chocolate cake is not the only type of cake that would benefit from the spicy ganache — vanilla or red velvet cake are also great fits. Or, how about using it for a twist on the classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting?

You can also use the spicy ganache for an exciting, unexpected topping for a buttery sugar cookie batch. Or, it could act as the frosting layer over the top of a skillet chocolate chip cookie for a unique "cake" at a birthday party — as long as the guests would enjoy that spicy kick from the ganache.