Rich Chocolate Cake with Coconut Filling and Ganache
Merrill buttered the pan and dusted it with cocoa.
Weighing chocolate -- we put plastic wrap down so it doesn't dirty the scale. (One of us is a Virgo.)
Our "mess" en place.
Merrill pours coconut flakes -- unsweetened! -- into the cream cheese and eggs. Our flakes were super big so Merrill buzzed them in the food processor to make them more the size of confetti.
Sarah took this photo because she said it reminded her of a Jane Austin novel, the women busy together at home. (That's Kristen on the left!)
The chocolate and shortening, melted. (We didn't show you the batch that Amanda burnt. Do this in the microwave if you can.)
Merrill beating coffee into the chocolate mixture. Amanda whisking the dry ingredients to aerate them a bit.
An alien with 3 eyes! No, that's just the chocolate mixture and eggs.
Amanda is *very* excited to use the hand mixer Merrill gave her. Vrrrroooommmm!
Maiden voyage was a success -- and fun!
First you pour half the batter into the cocoa-dusted pan.
Then you plop in the coconut filling.
Then you pour in the rest of the batter and stare, puzzled, as the coconut rises to the surface.
Low moment. Low, low moment.
You can't outwit us, Mr. Cake! We had a photo to take -- the cake was going to look beautiful no matter what!
Ha! Back in the pan!
Chocolate + hot cream = ganache. (Formula for life happiness.)
Whisking the ganache.
Author Notes: My friends often request the Hyde Park Fudge Cake for their birthdays, which I've made a hundred times. This variation has a yummy coconut filling and a decadent ganache that I could eat with a spoon until I'm sick! - nannydeb —nannydeb
Food52 Review: This is the bear hug of chocolate cakes -- it's big, it's rich and it's lovable. Inside the dense, sweet cake is tangy layer of cream cheese and coconut. And on top of the bundt cake is a thin ganache glaze. You're supposed to bake the cake in a Bundt pan, but if you don't have one, a tube pan works well (and makes it easier to cut out the cake if it gets stuck). - A&M —The Editors
Serves 10 to 12
- 18 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, divided, chopped
- 2/3 cup shortening
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
- 1 1/2 cups strong black coffee
- 3 1/3 cups sugar, divided
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces softened cream cheese
- 1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Set out the cream cheese to soften. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 10-12 cup bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder.
- In a small saucepan, melt 8 ounces of the chocolate with the shortening. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese with 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/3 cup sugar and the coconut. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cooled chocolate mixture, 3 eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and coffee.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, cake flour, soda and salt.
- Combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just incorporated.
- Pour half of the chocolate cake mixture in to the bundt pan. Top that with the coconut/cream cheese mixture and then top that with the remaining cake mixture.
- Bake on the center rack of a 350 degree oven for 45-65 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the bundt pan on a wire rack for 10 mintues. Invert the cake on a serving plate to cool further.
- While cake is cooling, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Once the cake has cooled, drizzle or pour (depending on how much icing you want) the ganache on to the cake.
- Your Best Chocolate Cake Contest Finalist!
More Great Recipes: Chocolate Cake|Desserts|Cakes|Chocolate|Coconut
2 months ago manon
Can I bake this cake one day in advanced??? Do I have to put it in the fridge? Should I wait until I serve it to pour the gamache on it??? TY for helping me :-)
2 months ago Eva
Yes! It gets better after a day, as do many cakes (esp chocolate). No need to store in the fridge—there's plenty of sugar to preserve it. If it's going to sit around for three or four or five days, stick it in the fridge. But no matter what, it should be served at room temp.
2 months ago Eva
No need to wait to do the ganache, I think. That will also keep for a day or two or more at room temp. However, it will set over time, so it depends on how "wet" you want the ganache.
If you make the ganache ahead and store it separately in the fridge, make sure to bring it up to room temp and make sure it's smooth before you try to drizzle of spread it. Ganache is very temperature sensitive in that sense (it behaves very differently at different temperatures).
2 months ago manon
ok TY!!!!! Do I put the gamache on it right away or just when I serve it ??
2 months ago manon
Thanks I just read your comment!!!! Your very nice :-)
6 months ago Renee
I made this today. Wow!!! Spectacular. Switched coconut oil for the shortening only because I had it on hand. I also only had sweetened coconut, so I used it. This cake is really special. I made it in a tube pan. It came out of the pan perfectly. I did have to cook it for and hour and five minutes. I can't rave about this cake enough. It's moist, crusty and perfect. The ganache is the perfect "icing on the cake". Thanks so much for this recipe.
over 1 year ago Angella
Just want to add that I only used 1 1/2 cups sugar in the cake and none in the filling as the coconut was already sweetened also only half the ganache. Perfect sweetness for me.
over 1 year ago Angella
Oh my word...my taste buds are having a party! When I first saw this recipe I knew I had to make it. Love chocolate and coconut . Luckily a birthday came up so I got the opportunity. No issue getting it out of the pan. Only change I will make is to add more coconut to the filling and sprinkle some on top the ganache the next time. Words can't describe how good this is. Thank you for posting
over 1 year ago Elina
We don't realy like coconut, so can I substitude it with something else...almond powder perhaps??
over 2 years ago Linda
18 ounces of chocolate divided seems like an awful lot. Does that mean 18 squares of bakers chocolate?
over 2 years ago Linda Browne
I'm going to make this cake for a dinner party on Sunday. I'm going to put some whole toasted almonds on top of the cake before the ganache so that it is like an Almond Joy candy bar.
over 2 years ago Mignardise
Made this cake yesterday and serve it after dinner tonight. It's definitely a keeper! So rich and fudgy. I used coconut oil, per all the suggestions. Also had no problem getting it out of the pan (baking spray + cocoa powder) or with overflow. The coconut filling is perfect. Incredibly delicious - so glad I have some left for tomorrow!
over 2 years ago Jinran
I have to say this is really a fantastic cake recipe and all my friends like it. I used silicone pans, so I don’t have the stick problem. Since I don’t have shortening at hand, I used unsalted French better instead, and it turned out to be wonderful. And I took your guys suggestion; I used half cake flour and half whole-wheat flour, which works so great. But I decreased the amount of sugar, and used brown sugar instead. I used up my chocolate, so I whipped heavy cream and dressing with my homemade rose sauce. What a wonderful cake we have in years. Thanks so much for sharing such wonderful recipe.
over 2 years ago brookev
This is an excellent cake recipe! We love it. I substituted the shortening with virgin coconut oil, HALVED the sugar in the cake to 1 1/2 cups (which I felt was the perfect amount of sweetness, especially since the cake has a bit of melted chocolate in it too), used whole-wheat pastry flour instead of white flour, and toasted the coconut. PERFECTION!
about 3 years ago farida kee
I mixed 1 TBS melted butter with 1 TBS of cocoa-powder to make a paste and brush onto the Bundt pan and the cake slipped out perfect.But there was some "oozing" from the cake-and the cake "puffed up" high and cracked the whole top of the cake-how can I prevent that?I opt not to use the ganache and the cake was wonderfully rich and tasty!
about 3 years ago cwya
I just dont get it. I know I'm way old and stuff but seriously--a debate over "shortening?" I shudder to imagine what people might think if they knew that "shortening" is a commercial substitute for LARD. So by all means be horrified if you must but if you truly want the purist original flavor I suggest pig fat and baking in a wood-fired stove. My gramma's new gas oven was featured in the newspaper!I too am at 6400ft and the only subs I have to use are adding a little more flour, another egg, and a tiny bit of oil for flavor if desired. Increase heat a tad and lengthen time til top is crusty to touch. I am serious about this recipe since my grandmother made it as "mahogany" cake and it was devoured to the last crumb. The coconut filling is great for modern palates I guess, but a maple/chocolate icing and pecans make it absolutely superlative. 22 hired hands cant all be wrong!
about 3 years ago Eva
Superb. Make this now.
I made the following substitutions:
2c sugar in the batter (instead of 3)
Coconut oil instead of shortening (1:1 substitution)
1c each whole wheat pastry, home-milled kamut, home-milled spelt flours
All four of us rated this a 9 or 10. We fully expect it will get even better over the next few days, as many chocolate cakes do. May freeze half of it.
Oh, also: I had tremendous good luck getting mine out of the bundt pan in one gorgeous piece. I was apprehensive, but generously greased (using coconut oil) and cocoa powdered the mold, and said a little prayer as I flipped it. Whew!
over 3 years ago LeeLeeBee
I made this cake to celebrate our fifth anniversary. It was absolutely fantastic - very flavorful and moist. I was a bit worried about the amount of sugar (don't like desserts to be super sweet), but the cake was perfect.
over 3 years ago nancy56
One of the best chocolate cake recipes ever!
over 3 years ago Sherry Schreiber
This cake is fantastic and gets better with age. I froze it in slabs, and when I want some, I remove it from the freezer and defrost it in the microwave. It is even better than when it is just baked. Also I used mascarpone for the filling rather than cream cheese, and it worked beautifully. If you cover the top with shredded coconut, it really looks special.
over 3 years ago Todd Lent
Hi, just wanted to let you know I made this for my birthday, but since I'm vegan, I veganized the recipe. It came out amazing!
Instead of shortening, I too used coconut oil. I used two kinds of dark vegan chocolate. Ener-G egg Replacer for the eggs. And a tub of Galaxy vegan cream cheese. Other than that, I basically used the normal ingredients for everything else. Oh, and for the topping I used chocolate chips, coconut oil, Earth Balance and more shredded coconut which basically turned the whole outside of the cake into a giant Mounds bar. :-)
I have to say, it came right up to the top of the pan and stopped, so I didn't have any overflow or extra baking time issues. (It took about an hour.) Thanks again for the amazing (now vegan) recipe. This is going to be one of my go-tos for a while! (Wish I could post a picture.) :-)
about 4 years ago Lisakb
I adore coconut....and chocolate......this is now added to my "to do" list! I do have a chocolate zucchini bread recipe that has coconut, and it is excellent., I have to say that I was initially turned off by the shortening, though I do have some of the non-hydrogenated type. Love the coconut oil suggestion, especially since my husband puts it in everything! I have really tried to cut down on the fat content (and calories) of recipes as we get older. I no longer make things with a whole cup of oil or multiple sticks of butter. There are plenty of ways to sub for some of the fat without losing the moistness of the finished product. So, I guess I will play around with this a bit.
about 4 years ago Vicky K
I agree with Aurora. Shortening? The word always makes me run for cover, or else just turn the page if I´m reading recipes.
I feel like I´m reading something from a past age. Butter for baking of, if absolutely necesarry - oil. But I´ve never had an oil cake that was as delicious as a cake with butter.
If people think they are doing something healthier buy using oil or shortening - fagetaboutit.
about 4 years ago aargersi
Abbie is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Look, if you don't like the recipe then by all means, bake something else. There is no cause nor it is your place to judge or criticize anyone else's choice of ingredients - different people find different things work for them, appeal to their taste. Run for cover if you must but please don't post negative comments on what a LOT of people have had great success with and enjoyed mightily.
about 4 years ago aargersi
Abbie is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Look, if you don't like the recipe then by all means, bake something else. There is no cause nor it is your place to judge or criticize anyone else's choice of ingredients - different people find different things work for them, appeal to their taste. Run for cover if you must but please don't post negative comments on what a LOT of people have had great success with and enjoyed mightily.
over 1 year ago JohnL
I learned the hard way that recipes originally developed using Crisco or margarine are not always successful with butter, even though you might prefer to add butter as a flavor. I have a recipe for Truffle Brownies I got from the Food Network's now defunct Party Line with the Hearty Boys that calls for a stick of margarine. I tried it with disastrous results with butter. The recipe is not really "brownies" but it is one of the more delicious chocolate confections I have ever made. The recipe is not in their book for some reason, but it is still up on the Food Network site.
about 4 years ago Vicky K
I agree with Aurora. Shortening? The word always makes me run for cover, or else just turn the page if I´m reading recipes.
I feel like I´m reading something from a past age. Butter for baking of, if absolutely necesarry - oil. But I´ve never had an oil cake that was as delicious as a cake with butter.
If people think they are doing something healthier buy using oil or shortening - fagetaboutit.