Cherry Ripe Coconut Fudge Cake
This cake has been a bit of an obsession of mine. A fun little fudgy project that has consumed my kitchen (and belly) for the last few weeks.
You see, I had a yearning to make a cake featuring a favourite ingredient of mine - gloriously intoxicating, fragrant coconut flour. Have you ever used coconut flour? It's heavenly. You can find it at health food shops and although it's not super cheap, I find it to be a delicious treat.
With coconut flour on my belly brain I dreamt up a love story between coconut and cocoa. I pictured a dark, dense cake. Rich, luxurious, coconut-cocoa-goodness. I would use melted chocolate and coconut oil. Dreamy.
And so began my adventures in coconut chocolate cake baking.
First I used coconut palm sugar as my sweetener, which was just completely divine. I then tried brown sugar, as it's a more common ingredient, easier to have on hand. This too yielded a lovely cake, although the flavour felt somewhat muted. And so I turned to honey, adjusted the proportions a little and found the perfect balance. It's sweet, it's rich and dense, but not heavy, not sickly. Instead of needing a nap after a slice, I'm inclined to start leaping. And my, isn't that fabulous for a fudge cake? I think so.
Now, please know that I have nothing against butter, in fact I'm very fond of it. And a little sugar is darn fine too. But I wanted something different from my coconut flour. It's quite the delicate ingredient, you see, so I was determined to create a cake favouring more wholesome, nutritious ingredients. And so with a little hard/delicious work and many test batches, I find myself blessed with a lovely treat.
Oh, and then I went and put frosting on it. Frosting without added sugar or butter - rather, frosting with greek yoghurt...yeah, I did. Add some cherry jam and coconut sprinkles and you've totally got yourself a Cherry Ripe cake. A rather wholesome, fudgy Cherry Ripe cake. Yes indeed. And call me crazy, but the longer this cake stays in the fridge, the more delicious it becomes.
I find this cake to be entirely pleasurable and uplifting. I do indeed want to plough my face into it. It's love. Cake love.
Cherry Ripe Coconut Fudge Cake
Cake Ingredients
150g Coconut Oil (Unrefined, in it's solid form. I use Melrose brand)
100g quality Dark Chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)
1 cup Coconut Flour (from health food stores)
3 tablespoons Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder or Raw Cacao Powder
1 & 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Honey
4 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Frosting Ingredients
100g quality Dark Chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)
1/2 tablespoon Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder or raw cacao
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Greek Yoghurt
1 heaped tablespoon Cherry Jam (I used St Dalfour Black Cherry Jam)
2 tablespoons Shredded Coconut
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius (convection setting). Grease and line a 22cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.
2. Over a double boiler, melt the coconut oil and chocolate, stirring often until melted. Allow to cool.
3. Sift your dry ingredients (coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt) into a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
4. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the eggs vigorously. Add the vanilla, milk and honey, stirring to combine.
5. Add the cooled, melted coconut oil/chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and briefly fold through. Add the egg mixture and fold until all the flour is incorporated. Leave for a minute or so to allow the mixture to thicken, then fold once more to ensure there are no lumps.
6. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and then place in the oven and cook for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, rotate the pan then cook for a further 5 minutes. Your cake will be cooked when a skewer inserted in to the middle comes out clean - you still want it fudgy so be careful to not overcook it (best to take it out earlier rather than later, in my opinion). Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, before removing the tin and baking paper, and allowing the cake to cool on a wire rack.
7. Once your cake is cool, assemble your frosting by melting the chocolate over a double boiler, stirring often. Allow to cool a little but keep the bowl over the water with the heat off. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla, then the yoghurt. The mixture will seize a little as you add the yoghurt, just stir firmly to incorporate and turn the heat on to help melt the chocolate again if required. The mixture should end up nice and smooth, and rich brown in colour. Place frosting in the fridge to allow it to thicken.
8. Top the cake with the frosting, smoothing to ensure an even spread. Swirl through the jam, as much or as little as you wish - I favour haphazard, swirly blobs, and then sprinkle the shredded coconut over the top. Slice and serve.
Heidi xo
Giveaway
As I am so very dearly keen on coconut flour, I've decided to do a little giveaway - naturally in honour of coconut flour, but also this cake. And my birthday! Today I turn 27. Happy birthday to me. I'm going to celebrate with friends, family and woodfired pizza. Ricotta doughnuts will also be involved. And later on, I might just celebrate a little more by dipping into my endless supply of Cherry Ripe Coconut Fudge Cake found in my freezer (FYI, without frosting, this cake freezes very well).
To enter this giveaway for a lovely bag of coconut flour, please write a comment below telling me a memory of your most favourite birthday cake ever (one you made, one you ate - whatever you wish, as long as it's birthday cake). Last year Ben surprised me with mini cupcakes and candles from Little Cupcakes while having dinner with friends at Izakaya Den. Everyone sang happy birthday to me in the restaurant, a lovely act which always makes me turn bright red but I always absolutely adore it. Please email me if your contact details are not clear, so that I can easily contact you if you win. This giveaway is open to Australian readers only. I'll decide the winner in one week's time, on the 30th September.
Giveaway Winner Announcement
Thank you for all your comments - they were just lovely, truly. I read each one with a huge smile on my face and joy in my heart. Who knew how popular Australian Women's Weekly cakes were?!!
I had to choose KittyCate as the winner, though. A piano cake - that is terribly nostalgic for me and so it instantly sang to my heart. Cate, please email me with your postal address details and a bag of coconut flour will be heading your way!
Thank you all again for your birthday well wishes and beautiful comments.
Heidi xo