My Mexican Chocolate Cake with Berries is so easy to make, so intensely chocolatey, and so velvety smooth…this (almost) flourless cake is decadent but light at the same time. How that’s possible I don’t know, but it’s true. The subtle hint of Mexican spices like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and a pinch of cayenne, makes it magical.
My Mexican Chocolate Cake hits the sweet spot between simple and delicious.
Easy is a word I throw around a lot, I know, but this Mexican chocolate cake truly is. You need only a bowl and a whisk, and it comes together in a flash.
No matter how delicious something might be, if it’s too laborious and involved to make, I just don’t bother. I figure most of you must be like that too.
This is a version of my Belgian Chocolate Cake which is one of the earliest cakes in my personal recipe repertoire. I made it for this blog in my early days, then revisited it and updated a few years later. The recipe has never changed in all those years, it’s perfect. You can even make it as cupcakes, if you like.
I always like to punctuate my summers with a few chocolate desserts, doesn’t everybody?
But it can’t be a heavy chocolate dessert, it has to have a lightness to it. This cake delivers. It doesn’t have the overwhelming solidity that most flourless chocolate cakes have. Top it with juicy berries and a little hand shaken mason jar whipped cream and you will not be sorry.
When you slice into it the crisp shell crackles and buckles, revealing a dark moist better-than-brownie-like interior.
Just gaze into that dark chocolate interior…that’s what delicious looks like.
How to serve this Mexican Chocolate Cake ~
- Berries are so good right now I couldn’t resist. I like to slice the strawberries and intersperse a few edible flowers. I don’t do this until shortly before serving so the berries and flowers are fresh. Any berry would work on this cake.
- The cake doesn’t need any garnish at all, and sometimes I’ll just sprinkle it with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream. Try spicing the whipped cream with a little cinnamon for a nice touch.
- Ice cream goes especially well with the deep chocolate of this cake, I use vanilla, it allows the flavors to shine.
Mexican Chocolate Cake with Berries (gluten free, or not)
Ingredients
- 9 ounces dark or semi-sweet chocolate, either chocolate chips, or bar chocolate cut in small chunks
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 and 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons all purpose flour or your choice of gluten free flour or nut meal
- 5 large eggs at room temperature
garnish
- fresh berries
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Lightly butter a 10 inch spring-form or tart pan with removable bottom. Note: make sure your pan is at least 1 1/2 inches deep because this cake will puff up.
- Put the butter and then the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, then stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds, and stir again. If it's not completely melted, put it back in for another 15 seconds, and stir until the chocolate completely melts.
- Add the sugar, spices, vanilla extract, and flour to the chocolate, then the eggs, and whisk really well to completely break up the eggs. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. The mixture will thicken as it sits.
- Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 325F
- Pour the batter into the buttered pan and smooth out evenly. Bake for about 50-60 minutes, until firm on top and cracks form across the surface. Cool on a rack, then remove the outer ring.
- When completely cooled and just before serving, decorate the cake with fresh berries and a dusting of powdered sugar.
notes and variations
Still craving flourless desserts?
Ottolenghi’s Flourless Coconut Cake
Flourless Belgian Chocolate Cake
Gluten Free Carrot Cake
30 Comments
Susan Dianne Angel
September 28, 2020 at 8:00 amThe Mexican tort was absolutely delicious and so easy. I omitted the cayenne.
Cindy Gulley
August 22, 2020 at 10:59 pmDecadently delicious! Made this as a summer time birthday cake & served with fresh blueberries, raspberries and homemade chocolate whipped cream. This recipe is a keeper!
Charles Benavidez
July 23, 2020 at 3:56 pmI have a quick question, I have a 9 inch springform pan, do you think this will work?
Sue
July 23, 2020 at 5:31 pmYou should be able to do that, it will take a bit longer to cook, and I might take extra care prepping the sides of the pan so it doesn’t stick, the cake is quite moist.
Lucio
June 21, 2020 at 9:55 amI used an 11 inch pan instead of 10 and I used unsalted extra creamy butter sticks. Do you think this would have caused the cake to come out too moist ? I left it in the oven for 50 minutes and the toothpick came out clean and it was cracking at the top . What would you recommend I do differently? Also any other spice to replace cayenne pepper ? It was a bit overpowering for my like .
Sue
June 22, 2020 at 5:12 amIt’s meant to be quite a moist cake, Lucio, so maybe you weren’t expecting that? And you can leave out the cayenne without any issue.
Katy
March 5, 2020 at 8:33 pmHi! Please clarify- do you mean 1 cup AND two sticks or just two sticks butter?
Sue
March 5, 2020 at 8:43 pmIt’s 1 cup Katy.
Marco Rodriguez
June 2, 2020 at 11:43 amHello, i normally use 58% chocolate pistoles by cacoa berry for my flourless. Would like to know which chocolate you use. Should I use almond meal or almond flour, i think it is the same if i recall. This looks amazing and definitely want to try.
Thank you Marco
Sue
June 2, 2020 at 7:30 pmI generally use semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate, but feel free to experiment with different chocolates, Marco. And I generally use almond flour, which is a little finer than almond meal, but either will work.
Landry
December 16, 2019 at 11:39 amPlaning on making this to accompany our Christmas Eve tamale dinner 🙂 Since berries aren’t in season, I was trying to think of something else that might work as a garnish … almost thinking about just putting poinsettias on top to be festive, but wondered if you had a Christmasy or Mexican-ish idea for topping the cake.
Sue
December 16, 2019 at 11:52 amI think sugared cranberries would be awesome. Or you could pipe or dollop whipped cream and top with more cinnamon.
Landry
December 16, 2019 at 5:57 pmOh! I love the cranberry idea! Thanks Sue 🙂
Sue
December 17, 2019 at 7:31 amI’ll have to do that next year, it does sound good!
Lori K.
August 26, 2019 at 10:28 pmI made this cake for a birthday party recently, and it was enjoyed by all, including my mother who is a great cook & baker. Although my cake did not turn out nearly as picture perfect, it was delicious in both flavor and texture. For some reason though, I ended up with a couple sizable air bubbles on the bottom of the cake, which made correlating little domes on the top of the cake. Perhaps my new aluminum springform pan is to blame, or maybe my own inexperience. I usually use a steel springform pan. Perhaps I needed to adjust the oven temperature slightly with an aluminum pan? Regardless, I’m not waiting for a reason to make this cake again. I can’t get it out of my mind! Definitely making this again!
Sue
August 27, 2019 at 4:21 amThanks Lori, I love to hear this was a success. As for the air bubbles, try rapping the cake sharply on a hard surface like your counter before sliding it into the oven, that should help.
Ruth
July 22, 2019 at 4:02 pmI thought I’d make this cake today, so I dove in. I’ve made flourless chocolate cakes before (I’m gluten free), and they’ve always been pretty easy and gone together quickly, so when your recipe began by saying, “Preheat oven to 325 degrees,” I did. Imagine my surprise as I progressed through the recipe and saw that you instructed us to let the batter sit, cool and thicken for 30 minutes before baking. By this time, my oven had reached 325 degrees… and today is a plenty-warm summer day. I skipped the 30 minute set time, and I had to struggle with some uncharitable thoughts about the order of your instructions. I know I should read the whole recipe through before I begin, but it would have been awfully nice of you to warn me about the set time (which certainly allows plenty of time for an oven to preheat) before you told me to preheat my oven. Here’s hoping it turns out anyway. The batter was tasty.
Sue
July 22, 2019 at 4:51 pmI’ve adjusted the recipe directions to make better sense 🙂
2pots2cook
July 18, 2019 at 3:34 amDear Sue 🙂 I truly admire your works of art and enjoy every single post you publish ! Seriously !
Mary
July 17, 2019 at 2:59 pmThis will definitely be made immediately. Sounds luscious with a dollop of whipped cream.
Thanks Sue.
Sue
July 17, 2019 at 5:42 pmI stake my reputation on this one Mary ~ hope you love it 🙂
Jalysa
July 17, 2019 at 2:06 pmThanks for this recipe! Looks delicious! One question, do you melt the chocolate in the microwave with the butter? Or does the hot butter melt the chocolate?
Sue
July 17, 2019 at 2:43 pmI’ve always done them together, I usually put the butter in first and top with the chocolate just to insure that the chocolate doesn’t scorch. But as long as you microwave for short periods of time it works great.
angiesrecipes
July 17, 2019 at 10:15 amI love the use of spices in this chocolate cake! It looks beautiful with simple seasonal berries as the deco.
Sue
July 17, 2019 at 10:23 amSpices add such a nice depth to chocolate 🙂
janet
July 17, 2019 at 9:11 amDo you have to use that much sugar?
Sue
July 17, 2019 at 10:22 amGo ahead and experiment with using less sugar Janet, as a safe starting point you could try 1 cup.
John / Kitchen Riffs
July 17, 2019 at 7:30 amLOVE the spices in this! Neat cake — and like the berries with it. Winner! 🙂 Thanks.
Tricia B
July 17, 2019 at 4:54 amThat little touch of cayenne must add so much depth to this chocolate cake. It looks and sounds fantastic, especially with all those ripe berries. So pretty!
Sue
July 17, 2019 at 6:44 amIt really does Tricia, and you can even up the amount for an even bigger kick ~ this cake is really fantastic, hope you get a chance to try it 🙂