Inspired by a well-known chocolate bar, this dense, chocolatey wonder is an adaptation of my mother’s recipe for a moist coconut cake. The coconut needs to soak for a couple of hours, so remember to start well before you’re planning to bake the cake.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 50 g desiccated coconut
- 150 ml full-fat or reduced-fat coconut milk (or you can use ordinary milk)
- 150 g self-raising flour
- 25 g cocoa powder
- 150 g caster sugar
- 150 g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened
- 2 eggs
To Finish
- 1 quantity Chocolate crème fraîche topping
- Large chocolate buttons, to decorate
Equipment
- 1 litre loaf tin, approx 20 x 10 cm, lightly greased, base and long sides lined with baking parchment, or a 20 cm round tin, lightly greased
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4. Put the desiccated coconut into a bowl and pour on the coconut milk (or ordinary milk). Leave for a couple of hours to swell and rehydrate.
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and mix until evenly distributed, then add the butter and eggs. Using a hand-held electric whisk, beat for about 1½ minutes until the mixture is light and creamy. Carefully stir in the coconut, along with any residual liquid, mixing until well combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, levelling the surface with the back of the spoon. Bake in the centre of the oven, allowing about 40 minutes for a cake in a loaf tin, 25–30 minutes for a round cake. When done, the cake should spring back into shape when lightly pressed.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out and placing on a wire rack. Leave to cool completely.
- To finish, spread the chocolate crème fraîche topping evenly over the top of the cake and decorate with chocolate buttons.
- This cake will keep for 5 days in an airtight tin.