The first time I heard of this cake I was like…get out of here!!! Chili in a cake!!! How is it going to taste?? We are supposed to use unsalted butter in the cakes and here is acake with chilies in it!!!

Surprisingly the cake turned out really soft and utterly scrumptious. The batter does include chili powder but in less quantity. The main chili ingredient is in the syrup which is later poured on top of the warm cake. As the chili cardamom syrup seeps into thecake it infuses it with a certain Kick...an after taste that you feel while having thecake.
One thing you will notice is that we are not using any baking powder or baking soda. This is because there is so less flour. The softness of the cake is due to the stiffly beaten egg whites.
One confession…the actual recipe called for Brazil nuts. It is impossible for me to get Brazil nuts where I live. In fact if I go and ask for Brazil nuts people will think I am nuts. So I used almonds and of course it tasted superb. However if anyone does use Brazil nuts please do let me know how it tastes.


Ingredients

For the cake
300 gm dark chocolate
15 cardamom pods
6 large eggs, separated
100 gms Almonds/Brazil nuts, crushed
1 tbsp coarsely ground red chili
175 gm butte, softened
175 gm sugar
25 gm flour

For the syrup
150 ml water
5 tbsp sugar
8 whole red chilies
15 whole cardamom pods


Preheat the oven to 160 degree Celsius.
Deseed the cardamoms meant for the cake. Take out the seeds and pound them. Do not throw away the husk. I will tell you why later.
Melt the chocolate, add the crushed cardamom seeds and cool the whole thing.
Mix the nuts, soft butter, sugar, chili powder and flour.
Beat the egg yolks and add to the mix.
Add the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Add the chocolate. Bake for about 55 minutes.
Prepare the syrup while the cake is baking. Mix together water, sugar and cardamom pods and put to boil. Here I also add the cardamom husks that I didn’t throw away. The husks too are fragrant and so why waste them? Cook till a syrupy texture is formed.
When the cake is done take it out and let it cool a bit. Pour the syrup on the cake while it is still warm. Now sit back and enjoy the gooey, buttery, tangy hot cake.