Ultimate Chocolate Coconut Cake

Chocolate cake. These two words are two of our most favorite words. When done well, a chocolate cake will strike the right balance of richness and texture and, even better, chocolate frosting to bring the whole dessert together. If there’s a way to make a chocolate cake taste even better than it’s by adding a filling, either with more chocolate or something that will offer a nice contrast to the chocolate. Our coconut cream filling is the perfect way to add richness and flavor to our favorite chocolate cake recipe. Once we’ve put this all together, the drooling can begin.

We were inspired to make this particular cake after seeing a recipe for a Brazilian sweet treat called prestígio. Oh my heavens – this cake is just so, so good. We’ve done out best to recreate that dessert with this recipe. We use our usual go-to chocolate cake recipe here as the base, then it’s on to the coconut cream filling, and this is made with milk, condensed milk and shaved coconut. The ingredients are brought to a boil and thickened into a wonderfully luxuriously creamy filling. And to make this even more decadent, we whip up a chocolate sauce to drizzle over the cake and then cover it the top with a generous layer of chocolate sprinkles. We will use one of the two cakes to make our Ultimate Chocolate Cake. The second can be reserved for anyone who may not like coconut – now everyone’s happy!

Our Ultimate Chocolate Cake is one with some serious wow-factor. It’s got chocolate sprinkles, a chocolate sauce, chocolate cake, and coconut cream sandwiched between another layer of moist and delicious chocolate cake. Layer upon layer of chocolate and coconut cream-filled goodness that we’re obliged to share because it wouldn’t be reasonable for us to eat this whole cake on our own – would it? A dessert this good is really meant to be shared, so everyone can enjoy a slice of this amazingly decadent and delicious chocolate cake.

Ultimate Chocolate Coconut Cake

2 hours to prepare serves 8-10

Ingredients

  • For the cake:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup boiling water mixed with 2 teaspoons instant coffee
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • For the filling:
  • ½ can condensed milk
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 2 cups milk
  • For the topping:
  • ½ can condensed milk
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • Chocolate sprinkles, garnish

Preparation

  1. For Cake:
  2. Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease two 9 inch round cake pans.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
  4. Add oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla and beat well to combine. Mix in hot water; batter will be thin.
  5. Divide batter evenly between two cake pans. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
  6. Cool in pan until room temperature. Remove cake to wire rack and allow to cool completely.
  7. While the cake cools, prepare the filling. Add ½ can condensed milk, 1 cup shredded coconut, and 2 cups milk to a saucepan. Bring to a low boil, stirring frequently to prevent the milk from scalding. Continue to cook the filling until mixture has thickened, this may take as long as 30 minutes.
  8. In a separate saucepan over low heat, add remaining condensed milk, 1 stick butter, and 2 tablespoons of chocolate. Stir frequently until just thickened.
  9. Take one of the cooled chocolate cakes and slice it in half horizontally. Evenly spread the coconut cream filling over the bottom half and then top with the second layer of cake. Drizzle chocolate sauce over top and generously cover the top of the cake with chocolate sprinkles.

Recipe adapted from Hot and Chilli.