Chocolate-Caramel-Coconut Cake

By Lindsay Fowler
@Marshalluherdme

I love Samoa Girl Scout Cookies and this cake is made to mimic that famous cookie. The cake itself is a cake I have been making since I was about 11 years old and I use it with numerous other fillings/toppings because it is a moist decadent cake all by itself.

Rating:

★★★★★ 4 votes

Comments:

27 Comments

Prep:

1 Hr

Cook:

35 Min

Method:

Bake

Blue Ribbon Recipe

Notes from the Test Kitchen:
OK ... this recipe had me at Samoa. They are one of my favorite cookies, so I had pretty high expectations for this cake. It DOES taste like the cookie. So moist and yummy I found myself going back for just one more bite ... over and over.

Ingredients

2 c: sugar
1 3/4 c: all purpose flour
3/4 c: cocoa, unsweetened
1 1/2 tsp: baking soda
1 1/2 tsp: baking powder
1 tsp: salt
2: eggs
1/2 c: canola or vegetable oil
1 c: milk
1 c: boiling coffee
1 tsp: pure vanilla extract
1/2 c: sweetened shredded coconut
4 c: powdered sugar
1 stick: butter, softened
1/2 c: shortening
4 Tbsp: milk
2 tsp: artificial caramel flavoring
1/2 c: light brown sugar
2 1/2 c: sweetened shredded coconut
1 stick: butter melted
2/3 c: cocoa, unsweetened
1/3 c: milk plus 1-2 tablespoon for added creaminess
4 c: powdered sugar
1 tsp: pure vanilla extract
2 c: unsweetened shredded coconut
3 c: sweetened shredded coconut
1 c: sweetened shredded coconut
: chocolate syrup
: caramel ice cream syrup

How to Make Chocolate-Caramel-Coconut Cake

Step-by-Step

1Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2Add dry ingredients for cake into a medium sized bowl.
3Add eggs, milk, vanilla, and oil and beat with a mixer for 2-3 minutes.
4While you are beating the cake bring the coffee to a boil in a sauce pan.
5Pour the coffee into the batter after the 2 minutes is up and mix until smooth.
6This is a very soupy batter, it will pour easily. Pour into two oiled and floured 9" circle baking pans.
7Take the 1/2 cup coconut and divide between the two pans. Sprinkle on top and push down into the batter with a spoon until submerged.
8Put pans in the oven and set timer to 35 minutes.
9While the cake is baking you should prepare your filling and icing.
10For the caramel coconut filling- add shortening and butter to a bowl and mix with a mixer until blended. add powdered sugar and blend until smooth.
11Heat milk in a cup in the microwave and add brown sugar. Stir until dissolved.
12Add the milk mixture and caramel flavoring to the icing and beat for about a minute with a mixer.
13Add the coconut and stir until incorporated and put in refrigerator.
14For the chocolate icing- Melt the butter in the microwave in a medium sized bowl.
15Add the cocoa and vanilla and mix until completely combined.
16While beating with a mixer alternate the powdered sugar and milk until fully combined.
17Put chocolate icing in refrigerator.
18Let the cake cool completely before attempting to frost.
19Take the first layer and remove from pan onto a cake platform.
20Take a knife and slice the cake horizontally to form two layers.
21Set top layer to the side, and spoon some of the coconut filling out onto the cake. Spread the filling thickly to cover the layer.
22Put the next layer on top of the filling. Spread this layer with chocolate icing and then top with a thick layer of the coconut filling.
23Cut the other cake horizontally and add another layer to the cake.
24Add the remaining coconut filling to this layer and top with the last cake layer.
25Frost the entire outside of the cake with the chocolate icing.
26Take the coconut for the topping and mix 2 cups unsweetened and three cups sweetened coconut on a large baking sheet. Spread out to a single layer.
27Set in oven and bake at 350 stirring every 2 minutes until toasted. Depending on your oven it may be less than 10 minutes just make sure you are checking it or else it may scorch.
28let the coconut cool and add the non-toasted cup of sweetened coconut to the mixture.
29Take the coconut working with small handfuls at a time and pack into the coconut cake. It is okay to press on the cake you want the coconut to stick completely. This will get a little messy you will get icing on your hands but the point is to get all of the coconut on the cake.
30Drizzle the cake with chocolate syrup and caramel syrup.