Co-Worker Chocolate Coconut Cake

I finally have my hearing back!  Thanks GOD!  I woke up early this morning and got a workout in, made the hubby some eggs for breakfast, went to work and when I got home dinner was on the table.  I figured since I didn’t have make dinner I should get in the kitchen and BAKEJ

Lately I have been neglecting my co-workers and I haven’t brought any baked goods in to the office.   I think it would be safe to say that there have been times when I baked something weekly at the most maybe every other week.  To be honest I can’t even remember the last time I brought anything in for them. 

I went with something a little different than the norm, Chocolate Coconut Cake with Coconut Drizzle from Bon Appetit.  What drew me to this recipe was the use of coconut milk in the cake and the drizzle.  I’ve never used coconut milk to bake, mostly just for cooking curry dishes. 

The only change I made was using less grated orange peel.  There are two reasons for this, first I only had 1 orange to zest so I had only 1 tsp of peel and second the hubby hates the flavour of orange and chocolate together.  I compromised and only used half the amount.

The cake is still cooling on the so I haven’t had a chance to taste it yet plus, I’ll wait to cut into it until I get to work tomorrow.  It does smell and look fantastic though.  I thought it would be great to have with a cup of coffee or tea for an afternoon or mid-morning snack.

Chocolate Coconut Cake with Coconut Drizzle

Ingredients

Cake

·       1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

·       2 teaspoons baking powder

·       1 teaspoon fine sea salt

·       1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

·       ¾ cup sugar

·       ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

·       2 teaspoons (packed) finely grated orange peel

·       2 large eggs

·       1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·       1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

·       6 ounces bittersweet chocolate bars, broken into 1/2-inch irregular pieces, divided

·       1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Coconut Drizzle

·       ¾ cup powdered sugar

·       2 tablespoons (or more) canned unsweetened coconut milk

·       1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides; dust pan with flour, shaking out excess.

2. Sift 1 ¾ cups flour, baking powder, and sea salt into medium bowl. Stir in unsweetened shredded coconut and set aside.

3. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and orange peel in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

4. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with coconut milk in 2 additions, beating just until blended after each addition.

5. Fold in half of bittersweet chocolate pieces. Spread batter evenly in prepared cake pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate pieces over batter, then sprinkle with sweetened flaked coconut.

6. Bake cake until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, tenting with sheet of foil if coconut atop cake is browning too quickly, 60 to 70 minutes. Transfer cake to rack and cool in pan 45 minutes.

7. Whisk powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk, and vanilla in small bowl to blend well, adding more coconut milk by 1/2 teaspoonfuls until mixture is thin enough to drizzle over cake.

8. Carefully run small knife around sides of cake to loosen. Invert cake onto platter, then carefully invert again onto another platter, coconut side up. Using small spoon, drizzle powdered sugar mixture decoratively over cake. Cool cake completely on platter. DO AHEAD Cake can be made up to 1 day ahead. Cover cake and let stand at room temperature.

ENJOY!