Autumn Is For Baking: Triple Layer Chocolate Coconut Cake

Sometimes I bake for no reason.

Sometimes I bake when I’m stressed – I’ve been baking a lot lately.

Sometimes I bake when a friend has a craving for something sweet.

That’s how I came across this recipe! I’m not even gonna pretend for a second that I came up with it. The only amazing thing I did was to scroll through recipes on Pinterest and find this one. It looked so good I thought I’d give it a try and it is nothing short of amazing!

This cake is so tall that even a small piece would require quite an appetite.

This cake smelled so good when I was even stirring the batter that I just knew it was going to be one I would make again and again.

The person I gave this cake to said it was delicious! They aren’t the sort of person to say something that isn’t true just to make me feel good, either.

Not only is the chocolate cake rich and dark and amazing, but the icing is spectacular. I’m not a big fan of icing. In a lot of cases I scrape most of the icing off a piece of cake before I ever take a bite. This icing is the kind that makes you want to lick the egg beaters. The kind that makes you want to stick your finger in the bowl when nobody is looking and have another taste.

I really wish I had taken pictures of the cake while I was making it but at the time I had no intention of sharing photos or the recipe or anything. I was just making something for a friend.

So let’s get to the recipe, shall we? First and most importantly I want to give credit where credit is due. I found the recipe at In Fine Taste and from what I’ve seen, there are a LOT more amazing looking recipes there that I’m going to have to try.

Ingredients

Devil’s Food Cake

• ▢ 1 ½ sticks butter
• ▢ 1 ½ cups water + 1 teaspoon vinegarsee notes
• ▢ 1 cup 3 ounces of Dutch-processed cocoa powder (dark cocoa powder)
• ▢ 6 ounces about 1 ¼ cups 72% dark chocolate, finely chopped
• ▢ 2 cups brown sugar packed
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 6 eggs large
• ▢ 3 egg yolks large
• ▢ 2 cups flour measured correctly
• ▢ 1 tablespoon baking soda

Russian Buttercream Frosting (Condensed Milk Buttercream)

• ▢ 1½ cups of butter 3 sticks, room temperature
• ▢ 1-14 ounce can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• ▢ ½-1 cup of powdered sugar sifted
  ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ Pinch ⅛ teaspoon salt
• Topping: 
• ▢ 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
• ▢ 1 cup fresh blackberries optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take 3 8-inch round pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.  Set them aside for later.
• In a small pot over medium-low heat, add your water and butter. Once the two are melted and mixed together, remove from heat and whisk in your cocoa powder and chopped chocolate. Then add in your brown sugar, vanilla, and salt.
• In a large bowl, beat together your eggs and yolks. Slowly add it into your chocolate mixture a little at a time, mixing in between.
• Sift your baking soda and flour (make sure you have measured your flour properly–too much flour will ruin the recipe) and slowly add it in to your batter. Mix only until the flour is combined.  Do not over mix.
• Divide the batter evenly between your 3 lined and greased pans (if you don’t have 3 pans, see notes). Bake for 25-30 minutes until you can gently push on the cake and it is soft but bounces back or when you insert a toothpick in the center is it is clean but has a few moist crumbs.
• Let the cakes cool in their pans for about an hour, use a knife to loosen edge of cakes before removing from pans. Let cakes cool completely before frosting.

Frosting, Topping, and Assembly

• Reduce temperature from 350 to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread your shredded coconut across a baking tray into a thin layer and bake 5-10 minutes until lightly golden. Cool coconut before assembling cake.
• n a large bowl or stand mixer, add your room temperature butter. Beat butter until it is light and fluffy and has paled in color (about 4 minutes). Then add in about ⅓ of your Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk. Cream the two together until they are completely homogenous.
• Add in your vanilla, salt, another ⅓ of your sweetened condensed milk. Mix together until smooth. Add in the remaining ⅓ of your can of sweetened condensed milk and ½ cup of powdered sugar, mix until smooth.
• If your frosting is too soft or not sweet enough you can add another ½ cup of powdered sugar. If your frosting is still too soft, place it in the fridge to chill until you are ready to frost your cakes.
• Once your cakes are cool you are ready to start assembling! If your cakes are domed in the center, take a serrated knife and level them off so they are completely flat.
• Spoon you frosting into a piping bag with a round tip and pipe about ⅓ of the frosting on top of your cake. Then generously sprinkle your toasted coconut on top of the frosting. Stack your second layer of cake on top and repeat the frosting and sprinkling of coconut with the next two layers. After you sprinkle coconut on the top layer, top with blackberries if desired.

Until next time,

A Recipe from Emily

To check out a yummy recipe Emily is sharing, just click on the photo below.