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
Mexican Hot Chocolate Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 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
- 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper, set aside.
- Roughly chop chocolate and place in a large bowl, along with the butter. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and chili powder. Set aside.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
