Intensely Spicy, Sexy Chocolate Cake for #TripleSBites

Eat dessert first! I've heard that, but given that I don't have a huge sweet tooth, I rarely abide. However, to kick off our #TripleSBites event I decided to bake a cake. Click to read more about how we're celebrating romance with #TripleSBites.

Welcome to the first day of Triple S. Triple S means spicy, saucy, and sexy. So this is just an Intensely Spicy, Sexy Chocolate Cake from my kitchen to yours. Just for fun, I made it heart-shaped.

Click for the HOW TO: Make a Heart-Shaped Cake without a Heart-Shaped Pan.

I've read many Better Than Sex Chocolate Cake recipes. Really? Sorry, no cake is that good! And I've heard of people using mayonnaise in cakes before. I was unconvinced. But, after The Precise Kitchen Elf showed me the science of making a cake with mayo - from the book he got for Christmas - we decided to give it a try. Besides I had gotten a Spicy Mayo from Intensity Academy, one of the event sponsor, and thought that would fit into the theme perfectly.

Just for fun, here are the (purported) aphrodisiac qualities to this cake...

Chili peppers: The capsaicin in chili peppers heats up the body, increases blood flow, and causes the brain to release endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals. Many cultures throughout history have claimed peppers as an aphrodisiac. 

Ginger: Like chili peppers, ginger increases circulation and body temperature. Legend has it that famous French courtesan Madame du Barry provided ginger to all of her lovers to increase their desire and improve their pleasure.

Chocolate: Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, which stimulates the same hormone your body releases during sex. Maybe there's validity to the 'better than sex' claims after all. Maybe. 

Thanks to my Kitchen Elves for making this delicious cake. For their purposes, I just called it our Intensely Chocolate Cake. For #TripleSBites...it's the Intensely Spicy, Sexy Chocolate Cake.

Ingredients

Cake makes four 8" cakes - two round and two square

• 1/2 C bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 t crushed chili peppers (thank you, Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices*)
• 1/2 t ginger (thank you, Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices)
• 2 C coffee
• 3 C all purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 C organic granulated sugar
• 1 C organic dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2/3 C mayonnaise
• 2/3 C spicy mayonnaise (thank you, Intensity Academy*)
• 2 large eggs
• 4 t organic chocolate extract

Frosting

• 6 C organic powdered sugar
• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 3/4 to 1 C organic milk
• 1 t organic chocolate extract

Procedure

Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring 2-1/2 C coffee to a boil. Once it's boiling, remove from heat and add 1 t crushed chili peppers and 1 t chopped ginger. Let spices infuse the coffee for 3 to 5 minutes. Strain out spices. Heat to a boil again and measure out 2 C spice-infused coffee.

Butter and flour three 8-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Combine chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in medium metal bowl. Add coffee and whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Sift flour and baking soda into another medium bowl.Using electric mixer, beat both sugars and mayonnaise in large bowl until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in chocolate extract. Add flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with chocolate mixture in 3 additions, beating until blended after each addition and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Divide batter among prepared cake pans (about 2 1/3 cups for each).

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 30 to 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 20 minutes. Run small knife around sides of cakes to loosen. Carefully invert cakes onto racks and let cool completely.

Frosting

Sift together sugar and cocoa. Set aside. Cream together the butter and organic chocolate extract. Add in 2 C of the sugar-cocoa mixture, then 2 T of milk. Mix and repeat until all of the sugar-cocoa has been added. If the frosting is too thick, thin it out with more milk. I ended up using about 1 C milk. Frost cooled cake immediately. Let set for about 20 minutes before serving.

Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread 3/4 C frosting over top of cake layer to edges. Top with second cake layer; spread 3/4 C frosting over. Spread remaining frosting decoratively over top and sides of cake. 

Cut cake into wedges and serve with some strong coffee.

Thanks, Intensity Academy and Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices* - just two of our #TripleSBites sponsors - for ingredients used in this recipe.

*Full Disclosure: I received a bottle of Spicy Mayonnaise from Intensity Academy and an assortment of lightly dried herbs from Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices for participating in #TripleSBites. Feel free to use whatever spicy mayo and herbs you have on-hand. I received no additional compensation for this post; all comments are 100% accurate and 100% my own.

Here's what everyone else brought to the table to kick off our event...

An InLinkz Link-up

We had some very generous event sponsors for this event.

THANK YOU!