Mexican Chocolate Cake

I have this wonderful little cookbook  called Treasured Recipes From the Charleston Cake Lady  by Teresa Pregnall  and it has the best cake recipes!   

I've tried a few of the pound cakes in the past and loved them, but  the trouble with having so many cookbooks, is that once in a while they slip thru the cracks,  which is exactly what happened with this one and it got stuck  behind another cookbook and it was "out of sight, out of mind"  for quite some time.  Like a few years.   
I had a lot of fun 'rediscovering' it this weekend and I've found  a few more cakes that I want to make in the next few weeks.

This time a wonderfully rich chocolate cake caught my eye.
It's called "Mexican Chocolate Cake."   I'm not sure why. 
I'm not sure of the distinction that might make it "Mexican"  (if anything really does---we all cook/bake right?)  and it's almost exactly   my Chocolate Skinny cake  which is a sheet cake I make in the summer.  It didn't dawn on me that it was almost exactly like my  Skinny Cake,  until I was already in the process of making it. It's  a good cake tho, so it was worth posting about again.  This cake is really moist and chocolaty and fudgy. You Pour the frosting on while the cake is hot!  I think that makes it extra moist.  And then you let it cool only 45 minutes so it's still a bit warm when you eat it that first night.   Mmmmm.
The Handyman has eaten cake 3 nights in a row--that is unusual for him--he is a one piece of cake eater, maybe 2 and then he's done.  So, if you are looking for recommendations, that is a good one!



The Mexican Chocolate Cake directions said to put it in a 9x12 pan.  I have lots of 9x13 pans, but not a 12x9.   So I measured the inside of one of my 13x9 pans, and it is  NOT EVEN  quite 9x12.    Perfect.   I  did have  to bake the cake longer than the directions said.  I'm not sure if that is because of the cake pan size or the altitude  (we are over 4000 ft ), but it all turned out great.

Pregnal does mail orders too. She has baked and mailed thousands from her Charleston kitchen.  Part of me wants to order a cake from her to see how it turns out, because while I have the recipes and they turn out good, I have to  play around with them, because we are over 4000 ft altitude and things just cook different.

Mexican Chocolate Cake
1 cup sweet butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted
1 cup water
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 12x9 inch pan.
In medium saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the cocoa and water and bring to a boil. Set aside.
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.  Stir in the sugar.  Pour the boiled mixture into the bowl and mix well. Add the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and mix well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes  (I had to bake about 27 minutes), or until the cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  While the cake is baking, prepare the icing.

Hot Fudge Icing
1/2 cup sweet butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 box (1 pound) confectioners sugar
1/2 cups walnuts chopped  (I left them out this time, as my family prefers cakes without them)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the cocoa til dissolved and the buttermilk, Bring to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and gradually add the confectioners sugar, nuts and vanilla.  Stir well.
Remove the baked cake from the oven and pour the hot icing over the top.  
Allow the cake to cook in the pan for about 45 minutes. 
Cut to serve.

I'm adding this to my Cookbook Countdown as cookbook #41