Chocolate Chile Cake
A Perfect Winter Snack
This snacking cake is a fixture at our bakery all winter long, as the contrast between the moist chocolatey cake and the spicy cinnamon-sugar topping makes it a perfect winter snack. At our bakery, we use Chile de Onza that we source fair-trade from Oaxaca, Mexico. But you can use any dried chile you like. If using whole dried chiles, remove the seeds and stems and grind them in a spice mill. Be sure to wear gloves and avoid touching your eyes.
In our bakery, we make this recipe with Frederick Wheat and Danko Rye form Wild Hive Farm, but you can use whatever soft white winter wheat and rye flours are available in your area. The soft white winter wheat flour provides a lovely, tender structure to the cake, while the rye flour provides an earthy depth of flavor. Because rye flour doesn’t have the strength wheat flour does, you’ll need to be gentle in your handling of the cake batter, and you’ll need to bake the cake thoroughly so it does not collapse. The canola oil and water in this recipe will ensure that your cake stays perfectly moist, even when fully baked.
