44. Coconut Choc Chip Cake with Best Chocolate Buttercream
It was a colleague’s birthday at work this week, so I offered to make him a birthday cake. When asked what he would like, he ummed and ahhed, until I elicited the words chocolate and coconut fro him. That was as good a place to start as any.
But then he said white chocolate.
I don’t really like white chocolate in large quantities, as its REALLY sweet, and its not all that easy to bake with. So I made a white chocolate and coconut cake. This is not the cake pictured here. I was so embarrassed by not only the fact that the cake was ridiculously sweet (my boyfriend said he just pretended he was eating a white chocolate bar), but it was also hideous. I really messed up my ratios on the white chocolate ganache, and had been impatient when turning the cakes out and frosting so it was all crumbling and not smooth. It was not good.
So I made another cake. This one. Learning from my previous errors to make a cake that went down EXTREMELY well at work. Why not give it, or similar, a go this weekend?
Makes 1 cake and buttercream for 1 cake/12 cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cake
170g (6 oz) butter
130g (4.5 oz) caster sugar
85g (3 oz) desiccated coconut (+ some for sprinkling)
140g (5 oz) self raising flour
3 eggs
100g (3.5 oz) chocolate chips (I used white choc chips)
For the buttercream
100g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate, melted (+ some for grating to sprinkle)
200g (7 oz) butter, room temp
300g (10.5 oz) icing sugar
2 tbsp milk
a pinch of salt.
Method
Preheat the oven to 160C. Line two sandwich tins with greaseproof paper and grease the sides.
Cream together the butter and sugar until well combined.
Add in the eggs, desiccated coconut and self raising flour, and beat until smooth.
Mix in the chocolate chips until distributed throughout the cake mix, then divide into your sandwich tins. (roughly 13oz in each tine if you want to be precise)
Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly golden, and a knife comes out clean.
Allow the cakes to cool in their tins until the tins are cool enough to hold. Tip out your cakes and allow to cool further on a cooling rack. Place in the fridge to cool down further if you intend to spread rather than pipe your icing as this will make it less likely to crumble.
Beat the butter for your buttercream until light and fluffy.
Add in your icing sugar in two gos (or else it tends to go everywhere), and beat until light and smooth.
Beat in your melted chocolate and a pinch of salt.
Fill a piping bag and pipe a border around the edge of your bottom cake, then fill the middle with icing and spread to your border. This will keep it neat.
Place your top cake on top and decorate (piping or spreading) however you like! Sprinkle on a little grated chocolate and desiccated coconut and enjoy!
