Mexican Hot Chocolate Bundt Cake with Dulce de Leche Glaze

 
A super easy, moist and tender chocolate cake.
 
 
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This easy soft chocolate cake has chili powder and a bit of cinnamon.
I drizzled dulce de leche on top on this soft chocolate cake as a glaze.
This is the best chocolate cake. Tender, moist and soft. The dulce de leche makes a fantastic glaze.
 

POST UPDATE: I decided to give the makeover treatment to this extra moist, soft and simple Mexican Hot Chocolate Bundt cake, which is one of the most popular recipes here on the blog and for a good reason. I only reshot it, the recipe is exactly the same because, well, it’s really a good one! It's completely dairy free, made with coconut oil and coconut milk. The chili powder and cinnamon bring this cake to a whole new chocolate level, creating a deep and complex chocolate flavor. I dripped some dulce de leche on top as a glaze, and sprinkle some crushed pistachios and sea salt flakes. Sooo good!! You need to make this chocolate cake soon and find out why it’s so beloved around here!

We are not crazy. Well, at least not that crazy. In life there are things that for some reason are strategically and timely put in front of us. It’s the reality. Things that we didn’t look for or ask for, yet the universe manages to put them in our way.  The inner dreamer hidden behind our hearts falls in love with them, after all, each of them is a new gift in our lives. We flirt with the idea of loosing our sense of logic and fall for what supposedly is there for us. We spend hours, even days wondering what the purpose was and what the universe was thinking. Those things are not always the most convenient for us. Sometimes they hurt. A lot. Other times they bring joy into our story. But nevertheless, they are our gifts. Ours. Therefore we want to keep them all, even in the farthest corner of our souls, we never know when we may need to dust off one of them and use it in real life.

I was meant to make this cake.  It was one of the things the universe has gifted me lately and fortunately it’s one of the happy things. I had been thinking for a while now about this idea of a Mexican hot chocolate cake for no apparent reason. I don’t love spicy hot foods, nevertheless in desserts. I have no relation with Mexico whatsoever. Foolishly, I gave my back to my traditional morning hot chocolate for a trendy artisan local coffee. But the universe kept giving me hints until I got the idea. I even bought this lovely crown Bundt cake pan for the recipe without knowing when I was going to make it. So it was kind of surreal when I was flicking through this baking magazine called Bake from Scratch and suddenly saw the tittle I’ve been having in my head for weeks and a picture with exactly the same cake pan I’ve been keeping in it’s shopping bag since I bought it.

It was obvious it was time for me this Mexican Hot Chocolate Cake.  So I did. The result was absolutely amazing.  I’m loving the idea of baking with coconut oil and coconut milk.  I made a carrot cake a few weeks ago and it was super moist.  This cake is no exception; it turned out moist, tender with a surprising delicate crumb for a Bundt cake. I also used the traditional Mexican cacao to add complexity to the cake’s chocolate flavor. I have never been a fan of changing the oven temperature in the middle of baking. I prefer to adjust accordingly in terms of time and heat. Still I had to do it with this cake.  It needs to be baked in 325° so it keeps its moisture and ends up very soft, but the center will be a bit raw even after 50 minutes. I increased the temperature to 350° for 5 to 10 additional minutes.  You have to check the cake to decide how more time it might need.  The first time I made the cake it only needed 10 minutes extra, 1 hour in total.  The second time I had to leave it there for almost 15 minutes extra and rotate the pan.  So check your cake after 50 minutes.

I hope you guys get inspired to make this delicious cake. If you stumble upon it, I’m pretty sure it’s the universe telling you that you need to bake it soon! And you should embrace what’s crossing in front of you.

Recipe Notes

1. You can find the dark Mexican chocolate in specialty stores or in the baking aisle of well-stocked supermarkets.  I found mine in a local specialty store but it’s available here in Amazon.

2.  I used coconut oil instead of butter and coconut milk instead of regular milk. You’ll be amazed on how this tender this chocolate cake is.

3. Even if I’m not a fan of changing the oven temperature while baking, this cake really benefits from being baked at a nice low 325° temperature and increasing to 350° the last 10 to 5 minutes to make sure the center is completely cooked.

 
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Mexican hot chocolate cake with dulce de leche glaze

Mexican Hot Chocolate Bundt Cake with Dulce de Leche Glaze



Ingredients

Cake

◯ Unbleached all purpose flour – 2 ¾ cups
◯ Unsweetened cocoa powder – ½ cup
◯ Baking soda – 1 Tsp
◯ Chili powder – 2 Tsps
◯ Ground cinnamon – ¼ Tsp
Pure cacao Mexican chocolate, 70% dark – 2.7 oz, 77g
◯ Water – 2 TBSP
◯ Coconut oil – 1 cup
◯ Raw sugar (barely pulsed a few seconds in a food processor, a Nutri-bullet or small blender, see notes) – 2 cups
◯ Eggs – 4
◯ Fine sea salt – 1 Tsp
◯ Vanilla paste or extract – 1 TBSP
◯ Coconut milk – 1 ½ cup
◯ Coconut cooking or baking spray
Canned pure dulce de leche to pour as the glaze – ¼ cup

Simple Syrup

◯ Raw sugar – ½ cup
◯ Water – ½ cup
◯ Vanilla paste or extract – ¼ Tsp
◯ Cinnamon sticks (optional) – 2, or a pinch of ground cinnamon

Details

Yield:
a 10-cup Bundt pan

Total time:
1 hour & 20 minutes

Active item:
15 minutes

Equipment:
stand-up mixer or handheld electric mixer, 10 cups+ Bundt cake pan

 

Steps

To make the cake:

Place oven rack in the third tier of the oven.  Preheat oven to 325°.  Spray your cake pan thoroughly with baking spray (not cooking spray).

In a medium bowl combine very well the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, chili powder and cinnamon using a whisk.

In a small bowl break the pure Mexican chocolate disk and pour in the water.  Heat in the microwave in 10 seconds intervals until the chocolate melts and you can form a paste.

Place the coconut oil and sugar in the bowl of a stand up mixer and mix with the whisk attachment for 5 minutes in medium speed (level 4).  With the mixer running, add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until one is just combined to add the next.  Whisk about 30 seconds more.  Add in the salt and vanilla and mix a couple of seconds to integrate.  Add the chocolate paste and let it mix for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Stop the mixer, add in ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix just until barely combined.  Pour in half of the coconut milk and mix a bit more.  Repeat the process with ⅓ of the flour mix, the remaining coconut milk and finish with the remaining flour mix.  Mix just until all the flour seems well combined.  Transfer to the prepared bundt cake pan.

Bake for 50 minutes, then increase oven temperature to 350° and bake for 5 to 10 extra minutes.  During the last 5 minutes check the doneness of the cake by inserting a large toothpick through the crumb.  If the toothpick comes out dry it’s done.  If it comes out with a bit of raw batter, bake for an extra 3 to 5 minutes (see my comments on baking time on the notes).

Retire from oven and let it cool down for a few minutes.  Using a large wood stick poke semi deep holes.  Brush or pour the syrup with a small spoon through them.  Wait 10 to 15 minutes.  Turn the cake into a large plate. Drizzle the dulce de leche on top of the cake.

To make the simple syrup:

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat without stirring. Remove from heat after 1 minute. Brush or pour the syrup through the bottom side of the cake. Remove cake from Bundt pan and brush the outer side of the cake with the remaining syrup.

 
 
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