Double Chocolate Coconut Cake

Yesterday was my wonderful husband’s 29th birthday (Happy Birthday Homey!).  For his birthday dessert he requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and coconut.

I’ve heard wonderful things about the Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake and Frosting recipe but haven’t had the chance to try it until now.  I’m so glad I did…it’s amazing!  Super-chocolatey and pretty simple.

The coconut is my addition – so feel free to leave it out if you don’t like or don’t want coconut in your cake.

My only suggestion would be to make one and a half batches of frosting.  One wasn’t enough to put in between the layers and cover the cake completely, but I didn’t end up using the whole second batch.  One and a half would be perfect.

INGREDIENTS
Cake
2C. Sugar
1 3/4C. All-purpose flour
3/4C. Hershey’s Cocoa
1 1/2t. Baking powder
1 1/2t. Baking soda
1t. Salt
2 Eggs
1C. Milk
1/2C. Vegetable oil
2t. Vanilla extract
1C. Boiling water

Frosting
1/2C. Butter or margarine
2/3C. Hershey’s Cocoa
3C. Powdered sugar
1/3C. Milk
1t. Vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
For the cake
Heat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.  Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.  Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).  Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.  Cool completely.

For the frosting
Melt butter.  Stir in cocoa.  Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.  Add small amount additional milk, if needed.  Stir in vanilla.

To assemble
Place one layer of cake on a plate.  Top with a layer of frosting.  Sprinkle coconut on top.  Hold other layer in your hand (I put saran wrap in between my hand and the cake so it didn’t stick) and frost the bottom.  Gently stack on top of the first layer.  Frost entire cake with remaining frosting.  Over the sink or a large cutting board (for easy clean up) tap extra coconut onto the sides of the cake for decoration.  Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Husband Rating – 5 out of 5 – “The best cake my wife has ever made!”

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Triple Chocolate Halloween Truffles

I saw these little guys on the Kraft website the other day and decided to make them for a Halloween party we’re attending on Saturday afternoon.

I didn’t use the Kraft recipe, but one I already had, to make them super-chocolatey.

The coconut dying didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped, and my white chocolate seized up on me, so I didn’t get to do the little ghosts…but I’m going to try again before the party and will hopefully have better pictures to show soon.

INGREDIENTS
1 Batch of your favorite Chocolate Cake (homemade or box)
1 Batch of your favorite Chocolate Frosting (homemade or canned)
1 12oz. Bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
8oz. Sweetened Coconut, dyed orange

DIRECTIONS
Bake cake in a 13×9 pan and allow to cool completely.  Break up into small pieces and mix with the frosting.  Set in fridge for at least 2 hours to set up.

Remove from fridge and make small balls out of the mixture – around 1 1/2t. each – and place on a wax paper lined baking sheet.

Move your cake balls to the freezer to set up again while you melt the chocolate.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler, making sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl of chocolate.

Remove cake balls from the freezer, dip in chocolate (one at a time) and coat in dyed coconut (if you want).

Allow to harden – overnight in the fridge is best.

Enjoy!

Husband Rating – 4.5 out of 5 – “I don’t care how they look, they taste great!  The only reason this isn’t a 5 is b/c I like Bella’s brownie truffles better”

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Here’s my second try – the coconut dying went better (note to self, use liquid dye, not gel).  But, the white chocolate still gave me a little bit of a hassle.  Oh well.  Better luck next time.

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Samoas Bars

I love girl scout cookies…especially samoas.  There’s something about the combination of chocolate, coconut and caramel that I just love.  Unfortunately, my co-worker’s Granddaughter – my only source of said cookies – only sells them one precious time per year.  But, after finding this recipe on Beantown Baker I can fulfill my samoas craving whenever it hits.

These do take a bit of time, as each step has to cool completely before you put them together, but it’s definitely worth it!  I skipped the step at the end where you dip the bottom of the shortbread into the chocolate…mine was a little too crumbly to do that…but they’re absolutely delicious even without it.

INGREDIENTS
Cookie Base:
1/2C. Sugar
3/4C. Butter, softened
1 Egg
1/2t. Vanilla extract
2C. All purpose flour
1/4t. Salt

Topping:
3C. Shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) – I used sweetened
12-oz Chewy caramels – I used the Kraft caramel bits
1/4t. Salt
3T. Milk
10 oz. Dark or semisweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS
First, make the crust.

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepared pan and press into an even layer.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.

When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter.

Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper – I used a spoon to spread some melted chocolate on the bottom of each bar. I then laid them chocolate side up to set the chocolate.

Transfer all remaining chocolate into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Husband Rating – 4 out of 5 – “Almost as good as the original.  The guys at work loved these too!”

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