Mayan Chocolate Cake Recipe

This recipe for Mayan Chocolate Cake is an essential dessert recipe that will serve you well for years to come. Whenever I used to have to make a cake, I would buy a box of cake mix and a can of icing. However, after I started paying attention to the ingredients on those products I wanted to find an easier and healthier way to make them from scratch. I think you will find that this recipe is in fact pretty easy and the cake tastes better than the dry mix varieties that you find at the grocery store.

Mayan Chocolate Cake features cocoa which originated from the gulf coast region in Mexico. The cocoa, along with this chocolate icing recipe featuring Kahlua, give this cake a distinctive flavor only found south of the border.

Recommended Equipment:
stand mixer
2 9 x 2 round cake pans

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, warmed to room temperature
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tspn pure vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl (I used a standard Kitchen Aid stand mixer), beat the butter and sugar together for 5 minutes.
   
4. Mix in the eggs one at a time.
5. Next, mix in the sour cream, milk, vanilla extract.
6. Gradually mix in the flour mixture until it is completely blended. Do not over mix.
7. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that all of the dry flour mix has combined.
8. Grease 2 round pans with butter then dust them with flour.
9. Pour 1/2 of the cake batter into each pan.
   
10. Place pans in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove them from the oven when you can insert a form into the top of the cake and it comes out dry.
11. Let the cakes cool for 30 to 45 minutes.
    
12. Cover the cakes with aluminum foil and place in freezer for 3 to 4 hours.
    
13. Move the cakes to the refrigerator to thaw for at least 4 hours then remove from refrigerator.
14. Place cake on a plate and apply frosting to the top of the cake.
15. Place the second cake on top of the first. The frost the top and sides of the cake.
    

Mexic0