It’s baking season and I couldn’t be more excited. Life seems to be full of a lot of devastation and stress recently. Baking has always been my therapy – it’s the reason I started blogging – so you can imagine what I’ve been doing a lot of recently! When my sister and her kids were coming over for dinner last week, I took the opportunity to bake my mom’s pumpkin cake. I found so much peace in the process of baking (and the familiar scents). And if we’re being honest, eating the cake helped a lot too! This Mexican Chocolate Cake is one of my other favorites too…
If you love Mexican Cocoa, you’ll love this cake. If you like chocolate, you’ll love this cake. And if dessert is your love language – this is your recipe!
MEXICAN CHOCOLATE CAKE SPICY
The cinnamon and chili powder are what takes this recipe from your average chocolate cake to a Mexican Chocolate Cake. The recipe below has just 4 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1 1/4 teaspoons of chili powder. It isn’t spicy at all, so if you’re nervous, these amounts are a great place to start. If you want a kickier flavor, however, then absolutely add some more chili powder. You could easily increase the amount or even double the amount of chili powder. If you really want a shock, you could experiment with adding cayenne pepper. I’d start with 1/8 teaspoon and work up from there. The baking process will dull the spice a bit, but be careful (or just smother it in more frosting)!!
MEXICAN CHOCOLATE CAKE FROSTING
Speaking of frosting. I didn’t want to dull the flavor of this Mexican Chocolate Cake with your standard vanilla or chocolate frosting. Instead I used a family recipe for a warm cinnamon glaze that is positively scrumptious! It’s deliciously sweet and gooey without taking away from the flavor of the cake. The cinnamon throughout the cake and the frosting make it all merry together in perfect harmony!!
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MEXICAN CHOCOLATE CAKE
If you love anything Mexican Chocolate, you'll love this super simple homemade cake. Add in those warming spices that pair so perfectly with chocolate and then top it with the most decadent cinnamon drizzle ever. The glaze is actually a family recipe from a favorite pumpkin cake!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups warm water
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder preferably dark
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 ¼ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- Cocoa powder for dusting
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 7 to 8 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 12-cup Bundt pan well with butter and coat with flour.
- Add the softened butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the eggs.
- Stir the cocoa powder into the warm water in a medium bowl. Stir well until all the powder is incorporated. With mixer on low, pour in the cocoa and water. Next add the vanilla.
- Continue to mix as you add the baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, chili powder and salt.
- Gradually add the flour, mixing on low between each addition, just until fully incorporated into a batter. Transfer the batter to the prepared Bundt pan.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
- Once the cake is cool, place a plate over the cake and invert the pan to release the cake to the serving plate.
Glaze
- To make the glaze, add the powdered sugar to a medium bowl. Stir in 5 tablespoons of the cream. Add the remaining cream a little at a time, until the frosting reaches a thick, but flowing glaze. It should be thin enough to drizzle, but thick enough to hold its form when you drizzle it back into the bowl. Stir in the cinnamon and salt.
- Spread the frosting over the top of the cake, allowing it to drape gently over the sides. Let rest for 5 minutes. Dust with cocoa powder before slicing to serve. Store any leftover cake in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
Make this recipe? I'd love to see how it turned out. Tag me @LMinthekitchen on Instagram and use #LMrecipes, so I can see your creation! xo
