Mexican Hot Chocolate Snack Cake

A very simple dense, chocolate snack cake topped with homemade whipped cream, spiced with cinnamon and chili powder.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I’m popping in to share this super easy, ultra-chocolatey Mexican hot chocolate snacking cake with you to help you celebrate the occasion.

The first memory I have of Mexican hot chocolate was on the freezing streets of Chicago right after graduating from college. It was our first winter together as a married couple and Martin and I decided to escape the tropical Florida climate and spend New Year’s in the Windy City. We layered on coats, hats, and gloves and spent the days traipsing through the city. One evening, we went to dinner at Rick Bayless’ new (at the time) restaurant, Xoco. It was a fast-casual spot, serving piping hot caldos, warm tortas, and of course, thick, creamy spiced hot chocolate. We sipped our steaming chocolate drinks on the train back to the hotel, feeling very cosmopolitan, and I remember thinking that maybe winter wasn’t all that scary.

what is Mexican hot chocolate?

I’m definitely not the ultimate authority on the matter, but drawing from lots of research and my Rick Bayless chocolate experience, Mexican hot chocolate is a thick, rich chocolate beverage spiced with chilis and cinnamon. Drinking chocolate originated with the Mayans and then made its way through Europe. It’s very different from our American hot chocolate in that it is almost closer to a pudding than a liquid beverage, and it’s often a bit more bitter because the chocolate really shines through. The exact spices vary by recipe, cinnamon and some sort of spice, like chilis or cayenne, are often included.

a Mexican hot chocolate snack cake

This cake, like traditional Mexican hot chocolate is dense and rich. It’s easy to whisk together, using only bowl and spoons (no mixers required) that incorporates both cocoa powder and melted chocolate. Dry ingredients are whisked together and set aside while you chop high-quality dark chocolate and butter. The sugars are combined in a saucepan with strong coffee and simmered until the mixture is boiling and the sugars are dissolved. The hot coffee syrup is then poured over the chopped chocolate ganache-style, and the mixture sets to give the chocolate time to melt. Eggs and vanilla are whisked in, followed by the dry ingredients, and the cake bakes in an 8x8 square pan.

I used a fun technique to make the whipped cream that helps minimize the amount of air bubbles created, which results in a thicker whipped cream, a little more like frosting. Heavy cream, cinnamon, chili powder, powdered sugar, and vanilla are immersion blended until the mixture thickens and then the cool, spiced cream is swooped on top of the cooled cake. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can make traditional whipped cream using a hand-held or standing mixer (or your whisk) to whip cream to medium peaks. Because this cake has such a high liquid content and the whipped cream is more compact, the cake holds well, even after being frosted. Store the frosted cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

bonus: strawberry marigold margaritas and a few other cinco de mayo recipes

Yield: makes one 8x8" square cake

Author: Anna Ramiz

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Mexican Hot Chocolate Snack Cake

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 45 Min

An ultra-moist, deep chocolate snack cake topped with chili-spiced cinnamon whipped cream.

Ingredients

for the cake

• 1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (106 g) brown sugar
• 75 g (2.64 oz) dark chocolate, chopped
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup strong coffee

for the frosting

• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper, set aside.
2. Roughly chop chocolate and place in a large bowl, along with the butter. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and chili powder. Set aside.
4. Combine sugar, brown sugar, and coffee in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, until mixture is boiling and sugars have dissolved. Pour the hot coffee mixture over the chocolate and butter and let set for 5 minutes.
5. Whisk the chocolate coffee mixture until smooth and all of the chocolate and butter has melted. Whisk in the egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and whisk again until smooth and no lumps remain.
6. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes in the pan and then remove from pan and cool completely.
7. To make the frosting, combine heavy cream, cinnamon, chili powder, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a large measuring cup or a medium bowl with high sides. Blend with an immersion blender for 3-4 minutes, until frosting is thick and stiff peaks form. Spoon frosting onto the cooled cake and smooth with a spoon or offset spatula.

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Strawberry Sumac Fregolotta

This simple and summery strawberry sumac fregolotta is an easy Italian shortbread tart, filled with sticky, homemade strawberry jam.

I’ve been taking the last few days off of Instagram and it has been luxurious. It took me a while to realize, but I’ve been stuck in a creative rut. The realities of the pandemic have finally reached my kitchen. A lot of the inspiration that I draw from food friends and restaurants has run out and I’ve been feeling like I’m grasping for recipe ideas from nowhere. On top of that, spending hours a day on Instagram with a screen that constantly refreshes new recipes and photos wasn't helping. My brain felt like it was both too loud and too quiet at the same time. The last few days have been peaceful. I’ve been working on some backend blog stuff, trying out spontaneous recipes, and playing with my camera so that I’m prepared to get you all sorts of new recipes this summer.

One of the places that where I’ve found inspiration during this restaurant-less spell has been my cookbook shelf. I’ve been going back to old favorites, like my used, beat-up copy of Chez Panisse Desserts, published in 1985. There are no pictures, only pencil illustrations of fruit, and it’s a treasure trove of produce-inspired pastries. (It’s also apparently selling for $240 on Amazon so I will be taking my copy to the grave with me.) The other book I’ve been enjoying lately is Thalia Ho’s Wild Sweetness. I’ve been baking my way through it’s pages over the last month or so and it’s where the inspiration for this tart came from.

What is a fregolotta?

A fregolotta is an Italian tart, made from a coarse, shortbread-like crust. The name comes from “fregole”, the Venetian word for crumbs and the same shortbread dough that gets pressed into the bottom of the pan, also gets scattered across the top haphazardly. Often, the crust incorporates some sort of nut or grain, like semolina or polenta or almonds. In this rendition, the crust is made from ground sunflower seeds, cornmeal, flour, sugar, egg yolks, and butter. This Italian jam tart can be filled with any jam you like, but since we are smack in the middle of strawberry season (and they are my very favorite fruit), I couldn’t resist cooking fresh strawberries down with a little sugar and bright, tart sumac to create a sticky, sweet jam filling. In practical notes, if your jam seems a little too liquid-y, just scoop out the berries and reserve some of the strawberry sauce for drizzling on ice cream later.

strawberry sumac fregolotta

strawberry sumac fregolotta

Yield

makes one 9" tart pan

Author

Anna Ramiz

Prep time

20 Min

Cook time

45 Min

Total time

1 H & 4 M

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Strawberry Sumac Fregolotta

This Italian pastry is made of a shortbread-style crumble crust filled with sticky strawberry sumac jam.

Ingredients

for the strawberry sumac filling

• 1 lb strawberries, trimmed and quartered
• 1/2 lb granulated sugar
• Juice of 1/2 of a large lemon
• 1 tbsp ground sumac

for the crust

• 1 1/4 cup + 1 tsp (160 g) all purpose flour
• 120 g ground sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup (40 g) cornmeal
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (115 g) granulated sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (200 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Instructions

1. Stir together all filling ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until strawberries have broken down and the mixture has thickened. Transfer to a bowl and chill until room temperature.
2. While the filling is cooling, place sunflower seeds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt and pulse once or twice just to combine.
3. Add the butter to the food processor and pulse until butter has broken up and is pea-sized. Add the yolks and pulse until mixed in and dough just begins to come together.
4. Press 2/3 of the dough in an even layer on the bottom and up the sides of a tart pan. Spoon the strawberry filling* (see notes) into the tart pan and crumble the remaining 1/3 of the dough over the top of the tart.
5. Place the tart pan on a parchment-lined baking sheet at bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

Notes:

If the strawberry filling seems like it has a lot of liquid, fish the strawberry pieces out of the jam and don’t add all of the leftover juice to the fregolotta. Keep the juice for topping on ice cream!

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A Fancy Strawberry Shortcake

Buckwheat and Black Plum Crumble

Blackberry Lavender Clafoutis

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Honey Lavender Orange Loaf Cake

This simple honey and orange loaf cake recipe is drizzled with a lavender simple syrup. Plus, recipe includes tips for making a great loaf cake and advice on how to adapt your cakes based on the fruit and florals you have on hand.

The large majority of my recipe ideas come from me trying to figure out what to do with random ingredients that are left hanging out in my fridge or pantry. Being a recipe developer, I’m often left with deli containers filled with small scoops of custards, syrups, or ganaches that I’m continually working to repurpose. I am also passionate about cooking and baking with as much in-season produce as possible, a habit that regularly leaves me buying more fruit than I need just because they are in season and oh so pretty. This is how this honey lavender and orange loaf cake came to be. A scrap bake at its finest.

You guys know how much I love teaching fundamental baking. For so many, baking can be scary and rigid and needs specific ratios and times in order for things to turn out correctly. While this is somewhat true, once you understand the roles that ingredients play in a product, baking can be creative and inspired and uniquely your own. I’m so passionate about this idea, that I wrote an e-book on it and I teach virtual baking classes to help you gain confidence and learn how to adapt baked goods to suit your refrigerator.

a very simple loaf cake

Loaf cakes are a great back-pocket bake. Because of their shape and density, they hold moisture well and last a bit longer than individual bakes, like cookies and brownies. They are also a great travel bake—it’s easy to wrap a slice up and take it on the road with you. They are also fairly straightforward, utilizing ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, like flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. This makes them the perfect vessel for flavor adaptation.

how to adapt your loaf cakes

You can definitely use this recipe as is and it will turn out beautifully. The honey lavender syrup complements the floral orange flavor in a way that shouts “spring is here”! But because I’m invested you experimenting and playing with flavors in your kitchen, here are a few ways you can adapt this recipe.

The fruit

Citrus is a great baking fruit because you’re able to use all of the components: fruit, zest, and juice. You can easily substitute another citrus fruit, like lemon or lime, in place of the orange in this recipe. You can also fold in whole fruits, like raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries. Simply omit the orange zest, replace the orange juice with milk or buttermilk, and fold your berries in just before pouring the batter into the pan.

The syrup

You can swap the lavender for pretty much any herb or flower that you like. If you want to omit the honey flavor, make a sugar syrup by replacing the honey with sugar and simmering until all of the granules have dissolved. Soaking a cake in a flavored syrup contributes both moisture and flavor to your final baked good.

a few other scrap-baking projects to explore:

Fig Butter and Bleu Cheese Rugelach

Bananas Foster Eton Mess

Caramel Brownie Ice Cream

Floral Strawberry Poptarts

Yield: makes one 9x5" loaf cake

Author: Anna Ramiz

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Honey Lavender and Orange Loaf Cake

Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 25 M

Inspired by Violet Bakery's Lemon Drizzle Loaf, this citrus pound cake is soaked with honey lavender syrup.

Ingredients

for the honey lavender syrup

• 1 cup of honey
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp lavender buds

for the cake

• 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (85 g) honey
• 1 large orange, zested
• 3 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup (220 g) all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 3 tbsp whole-milk, plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup honey lavender syrup

Instructions

to make the honey lavender syrup

1. Combine honey, water, and lavender in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture is bubbly and fragrant. Remove from heat, cool, and strain out lavender buds. Store syrup in the fridge for up to a week.

to make the cake

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small measuring cup, whisk together yogurt and orange juice and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar, honey, and orange zest. Cream for 3-4 minutes, until mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the yogurt/orange juice mixture. Mix until just combined and no dry streaks remain. Fold the batter a few times with a rubber spatula to ensure everything is well-mixed. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until cake is deeply golden brown and a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Prick the warm cake with a fork and pour honey lavender syrup over the cake. Let cool completely before removing from the baking pan and slicing.

Notes:

This recipe makes more honey lavender syrup than you need for the recipe, but that's okay because it's so versatile. I love to add it to cocktails and I drink it in my iced coffee all summer long.

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