This Mexican Chocolate Cake is faintly spiced with cinnamon and cayenne pepper, reminding you of the flavors of Mexican hot chocolate.
This cake is frosted with a mixture of melted chocolate chips and heavy cream that you spice with cinnamon, cayenne, and coffee liqueur or extract, and then you whip in a stand mixer until thick.
The cake itself is super moist and decadent. I purposely slightly under baked it so that the center would be almost gooey and the cake would stay moist.
I'm a big fan of the flavors of Mexican hot chocolate and have incorporated them into cookies and even ice cream. This cake and the frosting incorporate the flavors beautifully.
The frosting for this cake is referred to as a ganache (a mixture of heavy cream and chocolate), but it is not a typical ganache that must be poured immediately after the chocolate melts lest it it solidify too soon.
When you first pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and realize that the mixture is pretty thin, ganache will not come to mind. However, once you whip everything in your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, and you get a thick and tasty frosting, you will breathe a sigh of relief.
In fact, you will probably sneak more tastes than you need to because it's so chocolate-y and delicious.
I made this cake for my daughter's birthday. When you have a birthday that is so close to Christmas, it's always nice when you get to celebrate it with something that is not Christmas themed.
You can frost this cake fully, covering all of the cake, or you can do the "almost naked" look, where some of the cake shows through on the sides. If you go "almost naked," you can add the rest of the frosting to the middle and top of the cake.
To make this cake, the only special equipment you will need are two six inch cake pans.
That's assuming you have either a hand held or stand mixer (the stand mixer is super handy for making the frosting because it takes a few minutes).
This cake is super easy to make. Plus, it's little, just enough to serve eight without any leftovers. It makes a wonderful birthday or celebration cake.
Welcome to this month's Cake Slice Bakers!
Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.
The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.
This is our last cake from Little Everyday Cakes - and traditionally our last bake for the year is free choice, and our choices for December 2021 were ~
- Gingerbread Cake from My Recipe Reviews
- Kahlua Cake from Making Miracles
- Lemon Cornmeal Cake from Amandie Bakes
- Lemon-Sour Cream Pound Cake from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
- Mexican Chocolate Cake from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Rum Cake from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Strawberry Cake from A Little Bit of All Right
- Tea Cakes from Camille Cooks
Mexican Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 150 grams (1 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
- 53 grams (7 tablespoons) unsweetened natural cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 106 grams (1/2 cup packed) brown sugar
- 99 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 2 room temperature eggs
- 8 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons Kahlua or 2 teaspoons coffee extract or emulsion
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of cayenne powder
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Spray two six inch cake pans with spray oil and line the bottoms with parchment. Spray the parchment.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne powder. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the water, milk, and vanilla.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with hand mixer, mix the butter until creamy. Add the sugars and mix on high until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix on high until fully incorporated.
- Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on low until just incorporated. Add 1/2 of the milk mixture, and mix until just incorporated.
- Repeat with the flour and milk mixtures, ending with the flour mixture.
- Divide the batter between the two pans and bake on the middle rack for 30 to 35 minutes, until aq toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack and cool completely before frosting.
- Place the chocolate chips in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the coffee liqueur, cinnamon, and cayenne.
- Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until it begins to bubble around the edges.
- Pour the hot cream over the chips and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir with a spatula until fully combined. Let sit until completely cooled.
- Whip the mixture with the whisk attachment on high speed until fluffy and thickened. Whip in the vanilla.
- Frost the cake with the frosting.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
460.57Fat (grams)
26.92 gSat. Fat (grams)
16.46 gCarbs (grams)
49.27 gFiber (grams)
2.18 gNet carbs
47.08Sugar (grams)
30.42 gProtein (grams)
5.05 gSodium (milligrams)
311.90 mgCholesterol (grams)
74.08 g
This looks SO beautifully moist and delicious - that frosting looks AMAZING!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
DeleteWhat a cute cake!! And the Kahlua, cayenne, and cinnamon just make it extra special
ReplyDeleteI love the flavors of Mexican hot chocolate.
DeleteThe cake looks delicious, but you know that frosting caught my eye. It looks so tasty!
ReplyDeleteyou are the frosting queen!
DeleteNice! That cut slice says it all. That frosting - yum!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
Delete