Mexican Chocolate Cake

Since we didn't make any Christmas cookies at the Hunter household this year, I knew we had some extra cocoa powder sitting in the pantry... so I decided to try out this Mexican Chocolate Cake recipe from Serious Eats! Although the author of the original post claims this recipe to be "healthy," I am a little skeptical given the amount of cocoa powder, sugar, and flour in the recipe! It is however egg-less and oil-less.  Therefore this cake can be considered Vegan.  The cake turned out to be very dense, very chocolate-y and not as spicy as I expected. It was good, but not my favorite chocolate cake. I did like that it was not overly sweet, but I might add a bit more spice to it the next time I make it!

Mexican Chocolate Cake 

- serves 10 -

Adapted from Real Simple.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup cold water
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 or 3 tablespoons water

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together first seven ingredients (flour through salt). Make two small wells in the mixture. In one, pour in the vinegar. In the other, pour in the vanilla extract. Pour cold water over everything. Stir until moistened and a only a little lumpy.
3. Pour batter into an 8-inch round cake pan. Bake for 30 or 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then carefully pry out and finish cooling on a wire rack.
4. While cake is baking, whisk together 2/3 cup powdered sugar and 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder in small bowl. Add water. Stir to make a thick glaze. When cake is completely cooled, drizzle over cake.