This Mexican chocolate cake recipe combines rich chocolate with cinnamon and just a little bit of cayenne! It pairs perfectly with an espresso frosting and chocolate ganache. This is a part of my six inch small cake recipes collection.
This is the best one bowl chocolate cake recipe I have ever tasted and so easy to make. Plus, it’s not huge, so you can make it even for yourself or your family. I basically took the idea of depression cake (or wacky cake) and added some cinnamon and cayenne spice to it.
Then I topped it off with my favorite espresso buttercream used on my chocolate stout cake. And of course, I added the ganache drip to make everything look pretty.
What’s depression cake?
It’s called depression cake because the recipe uses no eggs, butter or milk. During the Great Depression era, these ingredients were more expensive or hard to get. The “wacky” thing is that it still tastes so amazing even though it’s eggless and has no butter!!
Is it the best chocolate cake?
Well, everyone knows that butter makes it better. If you want a true chocolate cake, you need to visit my recipe for “the best chocolate cake”.
This cake recipe is still insane though and I have not been able to stop thinking about it after it was all gone. That combination of chocolate, spices and espresso flavor is to die for!
Ingredients for Mexican Chocolate Cake
All you need are these very basic pantry ingredients…
- All purpose flour
- Sugar
- Unsweetened Dutch Process cocoa powder
- Cinnamon powder
- Cayenne powder
- Salt
- baking soda
- Water
- Canola oil
- Vinegar
- Vanilla extract
How to Make One Bowl Mexican Chocolate Cake
Start by whisking together all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon. cayenne and salt. Then add ALL the remaining ingredients and beat until incorporated and smooth.
Divide the batter into two 6 inch cake pans and bake! That’s it. No fancy ingredients or methods.
Options for Making this Cake
- Without the espresso frosting, this cake is vegan and allergy friendly for those with dairy or egg allergies. (You can always substitute a vegan frosting over the one that I used or just use a simple sugar glaze.)
- You can use black coffee in place of water to enhance the chocolate taste.
- Replace ½ of the cocoa powder with dark cocoa powder to create a richer darker cake. (This is what I did in these photos.)
- Adjust the amounts of cinnamon and cayenne to your liking.
- Try chocolate fudge frosting or cream cheese frosting if you don’t want a mocha chocolate cake flavor.
More Mexican Desserts To Try
Mexican Chocolate Cake
This Mexican chocolate cake recipe combines rich chocolate with cinnamon and just a little bit of cayenne! It pairs perfectly with an espresso frosting and chocolate ganache. This is a part of my small cake recipes collection.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened Dutch Process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 Tablespoon vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
For the Espresso Buttercream
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 4 tsp espresso powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Ganache Drip
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
For the Cake Layers
- Grease two six inch round cake pans with butter or spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a large bowl sift or whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt. Make sure there are no clumps of cocoa powder.
- Add the oil, vinegar, water, and vanilla extract.
- Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the batter until all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for 5 minutes in the pan
- Release the cakes onto a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
For the Frosting:
- Cream the butter until light and fluffy using a paddle attachment.
- Add a pinch of salt and gradually add in the sugar while mixing. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl at least once while mixing.
- Dissolve the espresso powder in a tablespoon or two of water and add it to the mixture along with the vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
- Adjust the consistency of your frosting by either adding more sugar or milk in a tablespoon at a time.
For the Ganache Drip
- Heat the cream to just boiling.
- In a small bowl pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and gently stir until it comes together. Let it cool slightly.
- You can pour enough ganache over the top of a chilled frosted cake and let it drip naturally over the sides. Alternatively, pour a small amount of ganache on top of the cake and then pour the ganache into a squeeze bottle. Squeeze the ganache around the edges of the cake to finish covering it and allow for better control of the drips.
Notes
I replaced a ¼ cup of the Dutch Process cocoa powder with black cocoa powder to get a darker color and deeper taste.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 631Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 62mgCarbohydrates: 67gFiber: 3gSugar: 47gProtein: 4g
This nutrition information is only an approximate provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. Information comes from Nutritionix, an automated nutrition calculator.
Barbara Smith says
If you’re expecting to make a big cake with two pans you best double or triple the recipe, This look like a giant Oreo cookie after we made it into cake pans.
Urvashee says
Hi Barbara,
I’m sorry if it didn’t work out as expected. As I mentioned in the post, this recipe is meant to be a small cake made in 6 inch cake pans. For a larger cake, the recipe can easily be doubled to use 8 or 9 inch pans.