Mexican Chocolate Cake....not your grandma's chocolate cake.

This ain't no ordinary chocolate birthday cake. This cake got pizazz.

It's a Mexican Chocolate Cake!

Huh?

Yeah, that's what I thought too.

Mexican Chocolate Cake has a bite to it either from peppers or cinnamon. I opted to go the cinnamon route and boy am I glad I did. 

This cake was to die for. So many people said this is the best chocolate cake they have had. It is super moist and SO flavorful. I also turned this into cake pops for a 1st birthday party (post coming) and they went fuh-fuh-fast! 

Ya wanna know the BEST part?!

It takes less than 5 minutes to get in the oven.

I'm not lying! Just look at the directions!

Mexican Chocolate Cake

Yields: 13" x 9" cake or A LOT of cake pops!

Ingredients:

Cake:
4 oz unsweetened chocolate 
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter 
1 cup hot water 
2 cups all-purpose flour 
2 cups sugar 
1 tsp. cinnamon (* The Twist*)
Pinch of salt 
1/3 cup buttermilk 
1 tsp. baking soda 
2 eggs, beaten 
1 tsp. vanilla 

Ganache:
2 oz unsweetened chocolate 
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter 
8 Tbsp. milk or cream
4 cups (~1 lb) powdered sugar 
1/4 tsp. cinnamon 
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large saucepan, melt 4 oz chocolate and stick of butter in the hot water and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Remove from heat and add the flour mixture. Mix well with a wire whisk. It will be really thick at this point. Stir in buttermilk, baking soda, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Pour into 13x9" pan or any size pan (I used baby 4" pans here) and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until the top springs back when touched with a fingertip or it passes the toothpick test. 

While the cake is baking, make the frosting. In a heavy saucepan, melt 2 oz chocolate and 1/4 cup butter together. Add powdered sugar, milk, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and 2 tsp. vanilla and beat well. You may need to add more milk or powdered sugar to reach the desired consistency. You can either pour it or spread it. The frosting should be pourable at this point. If it is too thin for spreading, you can firm it up slightly in the fridge.

When the cake comes out of the oven, let cool for 15 minutes, tort, layer and then pour the frosting over the top. Spread if desired. Hurry and cut yourself a piece before it all gets eaten.... or you can wait for the birthday person....I guess. let the cake chill in the fridge if not eating immediately. This will help solidify the frosting onto the cake and make it easier for transport.

Lime Slush Shooters

So this post is a continuation of the Mexican Party I posted about back during Cinco de Mayo.

 {I'm very slowly getting them all posted. :P }

These are Lime Shooters.

They are very tasty.

These refreshing gems were used during the main toast of the evening.

Put a little lime slush in a custom shot glass and top off with an ounce of Tequila and you have yourself a fine toasting medium.

My little brother enjoying his lime shooter

No.... little ones should not be drinking Tequila. You're right!

 For those of us that do not drink, the lime shooters were perfectly tasty sans the alcohol so it can be used for any event!

Plus, best of all, they were super easy!!

Lime Slush Shooters

2 Bottles (59 oz x 2) Simply Limeade

2 cups Sugar

Pour Simply Limeade (or other lime beverage) into pitcher or bowl. Add enough sugar to take away the sour flavor to your liking. Stir it up. Pour the limeade into large ziplock baggies and stick in the freezer. Remove from freezer about 20 minutes before needed. Share and Enjoy.

Grab 3 for your friends!

CHEERS!

Tres Leches Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Frosting

Tres Leches.

Yeah. We've all heard of it.

That one cake soaked in three types of milk.

So what?....Sounds soggy to me.

Well, that was my thinking before I had a Tres Leches cupcake.

It amazes me how many things I try that I assume I will not like and then they go and blow my mind.

Boom. Mind blown.

Just goes to show I can't trust my gut anymore. I give up.

So anyway, these are real good. I have already gotten a birthday dessert request for them.

See here.

Don't those look great!

They are Tres Leches Cupcakes with a Dulce de Leche Drizzle.

The three milks in this are sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and coconut milk.

I love the combination of flavors in this cupcake. It just works.

I was worried that the cupcake was just going to be soggy but since it was refrigerated, it wasn't soggy at all, It has a good texture. The dulce de leche drizzle on top of the dulce de leche buttercream frosting really compliments the cupcake flavors and creates a wonderful ensemble.

Again, it just works. :)

Try them! You won't be disappointed! 

Enjoy.

{PRINT RECIPE}

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

So, I'll be honest.

I have never been the biggest cheesecake fan. I have only had maybe 2 that I like.

I have to have the perfect combination of flavor and texture or else it's not worth eating.

{I will be posting the recipe to one of them shortly.}

This particular recipe for Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars got really good reviews and I know the rest of the world LOVES cheesecake so I thought "Why not?" Plus it is surrounded by a deliciously flaky cinnamon sugar crust. Now THAT sounded amazing to me.

 I still did not have that high of expectations but this turned out AMAZING!

I was so pleasantly surprised when I bit into it for the first time.

I thought to myself, "If THIS is cheesecake, I can do this."

It turned out to be a favorite of many at the Mexican Taco Bar Party.

 

Considering how delicious this was, the prep was nothing! You bake it in a large 9 x 13" glass pan and then cut it up! That's it.

I have said this before, but please get quality ingredients. Get a good brand name of cream cheese. It makes a huge difference.

So here you go, amigos. The Recipe. 

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Enjoy. 

 

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

INGREDIENTS:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls

3/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup honey

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.

Open the cans of crescent roll dough and unroll the whole piece of dough. Using a rolling pin, roughly shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles (you can piece it together so don't stress too much about the individual pieces breaking. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish and just make sure the whole bottom is covered with dough. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.

Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting.

{Recipe courtesy of AllRecipes. Extra directions courtesy of moi.}

Gahhhh.......now I am drooling.....

Mexican Wedding Cookies

One of the best cookies ever.

I really don't know why exactly.

It's not the kind of cookie you crave.... until it's in your mouth.

Enter The Mexican Wedding Cookie

I know. You're thinking, "I've had those. They're ok".

No.
You need to try these.

#1: These cookies are the very easiest to make.

#2: These cookies crumble in your mouth....and not in the 

"I-cooked-it-too-long-so-now-it's-crumbly" kind of way.

It melts in your mouth....like butta. {Makes sense when you see the recipe ;D }

#3: I can confidently say this is in my top 3 favorite cookies. Wow!

So without further ado. The Recipe.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

(By the by, these cookies go by many different names depending on which country you are referring to. Many countries have their own similar version.)

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for coating baked cookies
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands
• 1 cup pecans, chopped into very small pieces (food processor)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper.

Use a food processor to chop the pecans very fine (but don't run so long you get flour!). If you do not have a food processor then chop them by hand as fine as you can get them. This fine texture in the pecans is what gives you an amazing texture in the cookie.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at low speed until it is smooth. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed gradually add the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula. Using a small (1 Tbsp) cookie scoop, scoop the dough and place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes. {I baked for exactly 40 minutes twice and got perfect cookies.}. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in confectioners' sugar. Make sure lots of sugar gets on the whole cookie especially the bottom. Cool on wire racks. If you allow them to cool on a solid surface, the bottom will get gooey from the moisture and the sugar combining.These are amazing both warm and at room temperature.

{Recipe from Paula Dean, Queen of Butter. Extra directions added by me}

This is my new GO TO cookie recipe. It always works and is relatively fast to whip up. I keep some pecans in the freezer now and everything else I always have! Easy Peasy!

Enjoy.