Mexican Chocolate Cake I found this recipe when I was searching for something similar to a dessert served at a restaurant called Copper Sky in Seattle. Theirs is a not-too-sweet Mexican chocolate cake served with banana sauce. It's wonderful. This isn't quite it, but hey, not too shabby either. It has a chocolate glaze and a sugar glaze...doesn't get much better than that. Ingredients 1/2 cup almonds 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup cocoa 1/2 cup four 1/2 tsp allspice 4 eggs 3/4 cup sugar, divided 1/4 canola oil 1/2 tsp vinegar 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup canola oil 3/4 cup powdered sugar 2 Tbsp half-and-half How is this Mexican, Exactly? Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the sides of a 9inch round cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper. Put the almonds, chocolate chips, and cocoal in a food processor, and grind until very, very fine. Stir this mixture together in a medium bowl with the flour and allspice, and set aside. Gotta Keep 'Em Separated Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Put the whites into a mixing bowl, and put the yolks in a separate mixing bowl. Whisk the egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar and the vanilla until light and fluffy. Whisk in the oil, set aside. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer, add the vinegar and salt and beat until the whites hold stiff peaks. With the mixer still running, slowly add the rest of the sugar and keep beating until the sugar dissolves, a few more seconds. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites and half of the ground chocolate mixture into the bowl with the whipped yolks. Fold until thoroughly blended, then repeat the process twice. Batter should be light and fluffy. Transfer the batter to the cake pan, and bake for 30 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly. Remove from oven, cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Turn out onto a serving platter, peel away the parchment. Oooh, Shiny For the chocolate glaze, put 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/4 cup canola oil in a small microwaveable bowl and heat on high a minute at a time, stirring between heatings until smooth and melty. For the sugar glaze, put 3/4 cup powdered sugar and 2 Tablespoons half-and-half in a small bowl and stir until smooth and even. If it's too thick, add a bit more half-and-half. It should be runny enough to flow steadily but thick enough that it doesn't just pour like liquid. Coat the cake with the chocolate glaze first, then using a pastry bag, pipe the powdered sugar glaze over the top in a spiral. Draw a knife across the glaze from the center of the cake outward at regular intervals to create a web pattern. Chow down. Notes and Hints and Stuff Hey, Normal People Don't Have Pastry Bags Take a self-sealing (ziplock) food bag, fill with the white glaze, and snip off a tiny corner for a lovely disposable pastry baggie.