This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NestleHoliday #CollectiveBias
Mexican Chocolate Cake. A rich, moist and flavorful chocolate cake with notable undertones of cinnamon and vanilla. You know this is gonna be good….!
It’s no secret – I’m a lover of all things chocolate. Throw some coffee and cinnamon into the mix and my tastebuds are in heaven. So what is it that I’m up to….?
Today I’m taking two of my favorite warm drinks and combining them. To make a drink? Sure, you can – it’s delicious! Think of a mocha cinnamon coffee – yum. I’m taking it one step further though – I’ve created a Mexican Chocolate Cake and Ganache. You just know this is gonna be good!
Are you familiar with Nestle Abuelita? It’s a Mexican hot chocolate, but it’s not one of those packets of powdered mix. It’s the real deal – it’s a big round tablet of solid chocolate goodness. It’s one of those amazing ingredients that have been hidden right under your nose for years. It pretty much puts all other hot chocolate mixes to shame. I’ve been a fan of Nestle Abuelita for years and always keep some on hand for a quick, warm, comforting cup of hot cocoa.
Now, let’s talk about cake. Mexican Chocolate Cake. A rich, moist chocolate cake with notable undertones of cinnamon and vanilla. Yes, please. This is not your everyday, hohum chocolate cake. This cake is exciting, flavorful and sure to get everyone excited about chocolate cake this holiday season!
You might be confused about the addition of coffee to this cake. Coffee (instant granules or brewed) is often added to chocolate cakes. It does not give you a mocha or coffee flavored cake. Instead, it enhances the flavor of the cocoa powder giving you a more intense chocolate flavor.
This cake and the ganache are pretty simple to make. The only thing I must note is to finely chop your tab of Abuelita – this will drastically reduce the time and whisking effort that goes into melting it.
I prefer to use my tube pan instead of a bundt with this cake for two reasons. First, I love using this silky and smooth ganache as a frosting instead of a glaze. Second, some days my bundt requires a level of wizardry that I haven’t attained yet.
After making the ganache I throw it in the fridge for about 45 minutes to cool it and thicken it. This way it can be spread on as a frosting instead of pouring it on. If you’d rather use a bundt pan, you could pour the ganache on when warm.
That’s it! This Mexican Chocolate Cake will be a delightful dessert addition to your holiday meals! Chocolate and cinnamon and vanilla – oh my 😉
Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Baking & Happy Holidays!
-Amanda-
Visit NESTLÉ® for more ideas, tips, coupons and recipes.
Mexican Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- FOR CAKE:
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoon NESCAFÉ® TASTER'S CHOICE® Instant Coffee
- 2 tabs NESTLÉ ABUELITA chopped
- 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup buttemilk
- 1/2 cup butter at room temp
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- FOR GANACHE:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tab NESTLÉ ABUELITA
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Grease and flour a tube pan.
- In a saucepan, bring water to a boil and stir in NESCAFÉ® TASTER'S CHOICE® Instant Coffee. Add in chopped NESTLÉ ABUELITA chunks and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat, set aside.
- In a a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and baking powder.
- Add buttermilk, butter, eggs, vanilla and (warm not hot) NESTLÉ ABUELITA mixture. Using electric mixers, beat for 3-4 minutes or until thoroughly mixed.
- Pour batter into tube pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
- Cool cake on wire rack for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, carefully remove cake from tube pan. Finish cooling before frosting.
- FOR GANACHE:
- In a saucepan, bring heavy cream to a light boil.
- Add chopped NESTLÉ ABUELITA, whisk until completely melted.
- Remove saucepan from heat.
- Add chocolate chips to cream mixture. Let chocolate chips rest/melt for a few minutes.
- Whisk until completely smooth.
- Transfer ganache to a small bowl and refrigerate until creamy and thickened. I occasionally whisk it with a fork while cooling. 45 minutes - 1 hour should get you the desired consistency to frost with.
- *Note* It's been recommended to use a mixer & whip ganache if you are having problems getting it to set up to desired consistency.
- Frost cake and enjoy.
- Store covered at room temperature.
I love my chocolate too. This definitely would be the cake for me. YUM!!!
Thanks Dawn! You just can’t go wrong with chocolate 🙂
Can you make this cak a layer cake? My family loved it but my husband wanted more frosting. I thought if I could make it as a layer cake there would be more frosting to cake ratio.
Theresa
After your bundt cake has cooled. Make it a layer cake BY TAKING A LONG STRAND OF UNFLAVORED FLOSS,OR SEWING THREAD & PULL IT THRU THE WIDTH OF YOUR CAKE.
I use this trick/hack alot. .
You can use Coolwhip & cherry pie filling to make this delicious cake into a Black Forest Cake… YUMMM
This cake looks wonderful – I love the flavors with the chocolate. Perfect!
I use coffee in my favorite chocolate cake recipes and brownie recipes too! I just made chocolate cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday and did something similar. Love how decadent this cake looks! I’m drooling over here. #client
Coffee really does make everything better 🙂
Thanks so much, Danielle. This cake was a BIG hit!!
It’s not clear here what “2 tabs” of abuelita means. Is it two whole round discs? The photo shows the abuelita cut up into wedge-shaped pieces though. Which is it???
Hi Pat. The “2 tabs/tablets” would be 2 whole round discs of abuelita. The picture was snapped just before chopping up the tablets to melt. Sorry for any confusion. Hope you enjoy 🙂
Thanks for clarification. I will be trying this recipe tomorrow and I was thinking 2 wedges.
Omg….that part was confusing! Thanks for clarification!!!
I was thinking the same thing. Thanks for clarifying 🙂
Maybe refer to them as disks instead of tabs.
Thank you for this. Was prepping and not sure
Making hot chocolate ice cream. Wish to use abuelita (in tablet form). Recipe calls for 3ounces of
Chocolate. How many triangles of abuelita should be used as a replacement?
Hi Dylan. Use one whole tablet. One whole tablet of abuelita is just a bit over 3 ounces. Hope your hot chocolate ice cream is delicious 🙂
For ice cream I use the Abuelita syrup and it works out so great. I’ve got the cake in the oven and I will come back and let you know what I think.
Hi there,
I’m wondering if I could adapt this recipe into cupcakes! What do you think the cooking time would be for those?
Hi Lacey. These would be wonderful as cupcakes! I would guess baking time at about 20 – 30 minutes – start checking after 20 minutes. Love to hear how they turn out for you.
I used this recipe for a birthday Fiesta. It made 24 perfect cupcakes. I baked them at 350 for 18 minutes. I used the ganache to glaze them – a little messy, but delicious! I chilled the ganache for about 15 minutes, dipped the top of each cupcake, chilled again for 15 minutes and gave them a second dipping. Just the right amount of “frosting” for these rich, decadent cakes!
Hi! I baked this cake today. I am Mexican and love chocolate abuelita, my mom made us every day in winter, she still does when we are all there on holiday so I was very exited about this recipe. I still haven’t tasted it because I invited some friends for coffee but I have high hopes because my cousin already tried it and was the one who told me about it. Anyway, I just want to ask about the ganache, I couldn’t get it to thicken and I left it like 4hrs in the fridge. Please advise. And thanks for the recipie.
Hi Iris! The ganache should be just thick enough so it can be spreaded like a frosting – it’s almost a pudding consistency. I’m not sure why it would not be thickening up – I even add rum to this basic ganache sometimes and it works great for me. No worries though, all is not lost. It will taste delicious no matter what consistency. If it’s quite liquid yet you could spoon/pour the ganache over the cake – many people prefer this approach anyhow.
Hope you like the cake & I would love to hear how it turns out for you! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
So I’m having the same problem with the ganache. Still soupy after several hours. Is there something to thicken it. I really want an icing, not something to drizzle. Just wondering if you have any kitchen secrets hidden up your sleeve. The cake is FANTASTIC and looks awesome, just out of the oven. Can’t wait to eat it!
Awwwww….I’m sorry to hear this. I’m not sure why the ganache is not thickening up for you. I use this Ganache Frosting for a few cakes and it’s always been pretty forgiving for me. I’ll throw in some booze, or this or that, and it always works out.
It’s been awhile since I made it, so I can’t really wrap my head around it. I’ll bake something with it in the next week or two and see if I can figure out what’s going wrong. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help – but maybe I’ll figure it out for future reference.
Thanks for stopping by Megan 🙂
Ultrapasteurized cream does not act like regular cream in some recipes. Besides being processed at a higher temperature, they can put in several additives that may affect how it behaves in certain recipes. I know it doesn’t work in cheese-making recipes.
If you can’t get your ganach to set, try using a mixer to whip it. It turns into a delightfully fluffy frosting.
Wonderful! Thanks so much for the tip 🙂
Hi! Just found this recipe and it sounds amazing! Can you tell me if it makes enough batter for a 13×9 pan or should I maybe double the recipe? I want to make this into a birthday cake for my son’s 40th birthday. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi Teresa. Sorry – I’m a little late getting back to you. This would be plenty of batter for a 13X9 pan. I would keep the temp the same but the baking time would have to be adjusted. Maybe start checking it after half an hour of baking? Hope this reaches you in time and Happy Birthday to your soon.
Hi there!
Do you have an idea of how many cupcakes one recipe would make?
Thank you!
Hi Jennifer. I’m guessing you could get about two dozen cupcakes from this recipe. I’d love to hear how it turns out for you!
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Hi there, I am make your ganache only as a filling for a cake. I must store my cake in the fridge for a day, Will this warm nicely after its taken out to thaw fo a couple hours or will it stay hard?
Hi Shannon. The ganache should soften up nicely after sitting out at room temp for a few hours.
Enjoy!
I made this cake for a fiesta party and it was a real hit! I didn’t use the coffee and the flavor was perfect! Thank you so much!
Hi Nancy! So glad you enjoyed the cake! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Made this today for my cinco de mayo party… can’t wait to see how everyone likes it…. thank you!
Hope it turned out well for you!
Thanks for stopping by Michelle 🙂
Good Morning Amanda,
I don’t have a tube pan but I do have a Bundt cake pan. Will this work?
Hi Elizabeth!
A Bundt Pan will work. Just grease & flour it and adjust baking times depending what size it is.
Hope you enjoy! Happy Baking 🙂
Wow. Nicely done. An inspired combination of Cinnamon, Nescafe, Vanilla which works very well together. Plus I learnt about Nestlé Chocolate Abuelita. Bet it is really good. Got to visit a Mexican store and see if they have it. Hope you used Ceylon Cinnamon powder. That is what they use in Mexico and gives it a far deeper flavor without the strong taste of Cassia Cinnamon.
Hello~
I’m planning to make this cake for Christmas dessert this year. I didn’t buy the instant coffee though. Will regular coffee grounds work? I’ve never used coffee in a recipe before. Please advise.
Sub 1 cup of hot brewed coffee.
this looks amazing! not sure if this has been asked but can the coffee be omitted from the recipe?
Hi Angie!
The coffee adds an extra flavor oompf to this cake – actually most chocolate cakes. In this recipe it could be omitted as long as you still use the cup of water.
hello dear
in my country there is no chocolate abuelita ,
can i change it by other chocolate , or can i make it in my kitchen .
best regarde
Hi! You could try substituting some Mexican chocolate, or a dark chocolate suitable for baking with a bit of cinnamon.
Excellent cake! Very moist! I did make it in a bundt pan. I used 1 T King Arthur flour brand Espresso powder in place of the instant coffee, used Penzy’s Mexican vanilla because I had some on hand. I also didn’t chill and whip The ganache…I just cooled it a bit and drizzled over the cake. You could easily make half the ganache to drizzle since it made a lot! Turned out great and got rave reviews!
I saw this cake and couldn’t keep my eyes off of it. So I baked it tonight!! Another one I will be trying on my co-workers. It looks absolutely yummy! Thanks!
Fabulous recipe! I’m a chocoholic and found this cake to be one of the best I’ve had – dense, moist and very rich with chocolate. The Mexican chocolate adds an interesting zip to the cake – the cinnamon, some spices? Not sure what but my husband and I loved it. After making a recipe for chicken mole learned at a cooking lesson in Mexico, I had several tablets of Abuelita Mexican chocolate left over. So, when asked for dessert for a party, I searched online for a cake recipe and found yours. I didn’t need a full-sized cake so I baked half a recipe as cupcakes in paper cups in a muffin tray for about 25 minutes (checked a couple of times) – perfect. The ganache did take a bit of time to firm up but by the next day it was actually solid – I did add more chocolate chips than required so perhaps that helped. I’ll probably warm it a bit to put on the cupcakes after de-frosting them. Thank you, Amanda
Dude…this recipe is the bomb. I run a small at home baking business and a customer asked me to replicate the Tiago’s Mexican Chocoate Cake and this recipe delivered. I made cupcakes with this recipe and didn’t modify the recipe at all. They rose perfectly, there was just enough batter to make 24 cupcakes that had beautiful tops to them and they smelled amazing. My house smells like a cross between pumpkin spice latte and a chocolate factory. I chose to not whip the ganache because my customer wanted it just like Tiagos. I am so happy with the results that I just can’t stop praising the recipe. Thank you so much for sharing.
Making this today for Cinco de Mayo so I added about 1 tsp of chili powder to the dry mix and a pinch to the frosting. The spice is slight but adds a nice surprise to each bite. I love this recipe! Thank you!!!
Do you use unsweetened cocoa powder?
Thanks!
Yes – regular unsweetened cocoa powder.
Made a trial run in a bunt for Thanksgiving. Family ate it all!!! Trial run was for a wedding I have tomorrow. I’m doing cupcakes for the “groom cake” and the bride is super excited!! Great recipe. I followed it to a T except I get heavy on the Mexican vanilla and cinnamon.
Do you think it tastes like coffee? Or does the coffee just give the chocolate a stronger flavor??
Hi Courtney. There’s no coffee taste in the cake – the coffee enhances the flavor of the chocolate 🙂
I made them into cupcakes. One recipe makes exactly 24 if you fill the cups 3/4 full.
For the frosting, I added about 2/3 cup powdered sugar and whipped it a bit to see if it would thicken at room temp. It didn’t. So I dipped the cupcake tops in the frosting and it made a nice glaze. I put the rest in the fridge overnight. I made a second batch of cupcakes the next day and the frosting was spreadable.
One batch of frosting frosted 48 cupcakes fairly thinly but enough. About 1.5 TBSP per cupcake.
People enjoyed them.
I made the cake to the T, But it came out dry, not sure why. Tasty but dry. Help.
I have been making this cake for some time now. It is my absolute favorite dessert of all time. The flavor is very unique and so unbelievably decadent. Def not your run-of-the-mill chocolate cake. Thanks so much!
Thought I’d post a comment since I made it and had some slight changes (accidentally.)
1. Lovely cake. The bread itself is truly abuelita and cinnamon flavored. It’s not sickly sweet. The sweetness comes from the frosting.
2. I didn’t put any coffee, just the abuelita mix. I ended up making this cake because I came across the already powdered and broken down mix at the grocery store. So I highly recommend buying the abuelita mix for this recipe. Super easy since you don’t have to break down tablets, it’s already powdered. Use 6oz of mix for the cake, 3 oz for the frosting.
3. I accidentally bought whipping cream and not heavy cream for the ganache. Turned out perfectly IF—you warm the whipping cream on the stovetop, remove from heat and mix in the abuelita and chocolate chips. Warm it so the chocolate melts but don’t boil since whipping cream will curdle. Once everything is mixed, use a beater for 6-8 min to really mix and thicken the ganache. I then placed it in the fridge for an hour and the consistency was perfect. But I really do think it was because I used the hand mixer (beaters) for as long as I did. I whipped the cream as much as it would give with the chocolate mixed.