My Hatch Tres Leches Cupcakes

Every year, Bruce and I enter a recipe into the Central Market Hatch Recipe Contest. A variety of Anaheim pepper grown in southern New Mexico, a Hatch chile tastes robust and earthy. The aromas of charring pepper skins, as they roll around in the huge circular roasters, smell smoky and tickle the back of your throat with just a touch of heat. Either Bruce or I (only one entry per household, unfortunately) have qualified as a finalist every year since the contest started in 2007; we won in 2008 and 2009. We even drew a mention in the Taste section of the San Antonio Express-News on Sunday, August 21!

Throughout the year, I keep a notebook handy, and when I see something on Food Network or have an idea that could we potentially “Hatch-ify,” I jot it down. Each summer, we develop 5-6 recipes. Actually more than that….we’ve sent several subpar concoctions down the disposal. We invite our friends over and ask them to share very candid comments about what they like and don’t like. (While we enjoy hearing “I loved it!” that doesn’t help us improve the dish.) Their comments make our recipes better every year, and they always lead us to the best recipe to submit. Our feet ache and our backs throb at the end of the evening, but our hard work pays off with content friends.

The San Antonio judges have demonstrated favoritism towards desserts. A ceviche won in 2007, but that year, they presented the dessert (Bruce’s, actually) mid-meal, which hurt its chances; they now serve desserts at the end, a desirable presentation spot. Desserts have won every year since. Last year, I placed third with a Hatch Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich with a Hatch Tomato Bisque.

We developed four non-dessert recipes and two desserts this year. (No, I will not tell you the other recipes. We often refine and recycle for the following year.) I don’t know where the inspiration came from (those who know me will tell you I do not generally eat desserts), but I came up with a Hatch Tres Leches Cupcake. I have a video on my You Tube channel to show you how to make them.

The cupcake part was easy….can you think of a hotter (no pun intended) food trend? I researched tres leches cake and icing recipes and developed the recipe below.

Important tip: when peeling hot Hatch chiles, wear latex gloves, lest the capsaicin migrate from your hands into your eyes or other, um, sensitive parts. You only make that mistake once.

The recipe calls for a whopping 2 ½ cups of hot Hatch chile, plus 5 raw ones. This sounds like a powerful lot of hot. But remember, fat neutralizes the capsaicin that gives chiles their heat; any recipe (like tres leches) heavy in fatty ingredients needs a LOT of chile for the heat to break through.

My competition this year:
• Hatch meatballs
• Gluten-free Hatch chile stew
• Hatch lamb burgers
• Hatch pickled peaches
• Hatch apple pie

I always enjoy meeting and chatting with the other contestants. One, a native of Albuquerque, had a fiancé who flew him out some chiles that she picked up in Hatch.

Contestants prepare the recipes ahead of time and bring them to the contest ready to serve. (We’ve developed more than one recipe that we’ve tossed because it wouldn’t survive the transport to Central Market and the wait before judging.) We then each present our dish to the judges. As a repeat contender, they allowed my dessert to go last.

The judges’s reaction to a dish tells you a lot about the final result. Watering eyes, a flush face, and a quick grab for the milk means you’ve gotten their attention. After five years of competition, we’ve learned that it’s not enough for a dish to taste like Hatch; it must also pack a punch of heat.

This year, I placed fourth. The peaches won third, the stew second, and the apple pie won.

We truly enjoy our summers of Hatch recipe development and already have plans to enter next year!

Hatch Tres Leches Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
• 1 ¾ c cake flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1 ½ c sugar
• ½ c whole milk
• ½ c hot Hatch puree
• 1 t vanilla

For the soak:
• 12 oz can evaporated milk
• 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 c heavy cream
• 1 ½ c hot Hatch puree

For the icing:
• 8 oz mascarpone
• 1 c ricotta
• 2 T hot New Mexico chile powder
• ½ c sugar
• ½ c hot Hatch puree

For the pecan topping:
• 2 c water
• 2 c sugar
• 5 raw hot Hatch chiles, roughly chopped
• 1 c crushed pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. (Do NOT use muffin cups.) A silicon muffin pan is ideal; the cupcakes come out cleaner.

For the cupcakes: Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside. In a clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar (with the mixer running) until stiff peaks form. Scrape the sides of the bowl mid-way through. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing each one in before adding the next.

Add the flour/powder mix, alternating with the milk and chile puree. Add the vanilla.

Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool fully.
For the soak: mix all ingredients together. Pour into a 13x9 baking dish. When cupcakes have cooled, use a skewer to poke the cupcakes 4-5 times. Place them into the baking dish, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Turn the cupcakes once.

For the icing: mix all ingredients together. Chill for at least an hour.

For the pecan topping: mix the sugar and water together and bring to a boil. Add the chopped chiles. Slightly reduce heat and keep on a low boil for about 30 minutes or until the chiles turn translucent. Strain, reserving the liquid (discard the chiles; they’ve given their all). Stir the chopped pecans into the syrup. Remove the pecans and lay them out on a silicon baking sheet. Bake until they just turn brown, about 10 minutes. (Watch carefully; it’s easy to burn them.) Cool thoroughly and remove from baking sheet.

To assemble: Remove the cupcakes from the soaking liquid and allow to drain on a rack for about 15 minutes. (Reserve some of the liquid for serving.) Ice each cupcake, then sprinkle the candied pecans on top. To serve, spoon a bit of the soaking liquid onto a dish and place cupcake atop.