May 2: Mexican Chocolate Cake

This recipe for Mexican Chocolate Cake is one that has been languishing in my file folder of magazine clippings.  I culled recipes for cakes from the file at the beginning of the year, put them in an envelope and I occasionally pull "a name from the hat" to choose a Saturday Cake.  When I looked through the file a few weeks ago and found this recipe from Gourmet Magazine's April 2004 issue, Keith immediately said "Cinco de Mayo."  Of course!  The Mexican holiday co-opted by Americans as an excuse to devour enchiladas and margaritas is the perfect time to devour cake inspired by Mexican chocolate.

But this week, it is even more important to talk about cocoa and cinnamon. Specifically, a spectacular coffee shop in Durham, North Carolina called Cocoa Cinnamon.  Our friends Leon and Areli started their coffee business as a pushcart in 2010.  In 2013, they built their brick-and-mortar shop in  downtown Durham (just down the block from the old Durham Bulls' ballpark) with funding through friends and Kickstarter.

Cocoa Cinnamon uses sustainable and locally-sourced supplies in their products.  The signature drinks are often inspired-by and incorporate ingredients traditional to native cultures of the Americas.  The atmosphere is welcoming and cozy, and all of the employees are upbeat and happy to be there.  Leon and Areli believe strongly in supporting their employees with a living wage, and they encourage other businesses to do the same.  They contribute some of their profits to local charities.  They promote local businesses and civic involvement.  They will even give a free coffee to anyone who is unable to pay.  Cocoa Cinnamon is doing everything right as a small business.  They were just ranked by Buzzfeed as #7 in their "24 U.S. Coffee Shops to Visit Before You Die."

Cocoa Cinnamon has commenced a capital campaign to raise funds to complete their second location in Durham.  Please visit their page at Community Sourced Capital and become a Squareholder.  The "square" you purchase is not a donation, it is a loan.  Cocoa Cinnamon is trying to raise $30,000 by May 19th.  When you are in Durham, do not miss an opportunity to visit them and have the best caffeine fix of your life.

My See-Line Woman latte, flavored with chocolate and blackstrap molasses (foreground) with
Colin's Cacao Canele hot chocolate and lemon square on the patio at Cocoa Cinnamon

Deepest, darkest cocoa mixture

Cocoa and cinnamon are two of the distinctive ingredients in this Saturday Cake.  The cake contains Dutch-process cocoa, which makes a very dark cake with more complex flavor than regular cocoa.  It also contains a small dose of ground cinnamon which gives it a faintly spicy depth.  There is a significant amount of vanilla extract (2 tablespoons) compared to most cakes.

The thick glaze caused a few crevices in the tender cake

The glaze is made from pecans and bittersweet chocolate;  it's truly delicious but is less like a glaze and more like a bumpy frosting.  The recipe states that the chef, from Rather Sweet Bakery who devised the cake, uses the recipe for bundt cakes and cupcakes.  The cake is very moist and exceedingly tender, too tender I believe, for the heavy pecan-laden glaze.




When I make this recipe again, and the clamoring fans around here say I must, I will make cupcakes.


Next Saturday:  Queen of Sheba (Reine de Saba)