This is the birthday cake my mum always used to bake for me: moist, chocolaty perfection. Patiently melt dark chocolate, fold in desiccated coconut, pour the batter into your cake tin, watch it rise in the oven, and cut a slice of flaky fluffy cake. Pure bliss and childhood memories.

I am so surprised I am sharing this recipe on the blog only now. To me, this is THE cake. As a child, this was my absolute favourite cake with no rivals.

You can immediately taste this cake has real chocolate in it, not the more frugal cocoa powder, and the coconut gives it a flaky consistency that perfectly counterbalances the moisture and fluffiness of the sponge. I can’t recommend this cake more.


We didn’t eat this cake very often, it was only for special occasions, and that’s probably why I used to love it so much. Chasing the hard to get has always been a thing.
Every birthday my mum would make this cake for me and lighten it up with a big candle on top.



I loved this cake so much that as a child I wrote down my mum’s recipe in our family journal.
It’s been years since I made this cake, but it recently came back to my mind. I needed the perfect cake for the most special occasion.
I asked my mum to send me the recipe and that’s when we found my scribbled old notes.




I baked this cake at the beginning of February this year for a very special occasion, but I’ve only found time now to publish the post.
This cake is my humble gift for Ema, the sweetest baby who warmed our hearts when the days were still cold. When Ema smiles, she looks exactly like my dearest friend and my heart melts. I cannot wait to meet her in person and give them both the biggest hug.





Dear little Ema, I wanted to give you something that would last and although I am terribly late in publishing this post, dear little one, please know that this cake is for you.
I hope you’ll love this cake as much as I did, I hope this recipe will stay with you, and that you’ll always know how much you mean to your auntie Anna.




Stick a toothpick in the middle of the cake, the cake is ready when the toothpick comes out clean.
I hope you’ll have thousands of happy birthdays with your favourite cake, whatever that is, I will try not to take it personally if coconut and chocolate are not your things. I hope you’ll have sweet birthdays surrounded by the people you love, your wonderful parents first and foremost.



Counting the days till we meet, here is my childhood birthday cake that I now pass on to you.

Coconut Chocolate Cake
Course: Something SweetDifficulty: Medium8
servings15
minutes55
minutesThis is the birthday cake my mum always used to bake for me: moist, chocolaty perfection. Patiently melt dark chocolate, fold in desiccated coconut, pour the batter into your cake tin, watch it rise in the oven, and cut a slice of flaky fluffy cake. Pure bliss and childhood memories.
Ingredients
4 eggs (separate yolks and egg whites)
150 g caster sugar
100 g dark chocolate
150 g unsalted butter
100 ml coconut milk
150 g plain flour
16 g baking powder
120 g desiccated coconut
a pinch of salt
- Equipment
20-cm cake tin
hand mixer
Method
- Separate the yolks from the whites, and whisk the yolks with sugar for 5 minutes till they are pale yellow with lots of bubbles
- Melt the chocolate with butter and add to the yolk and sugar mixture.
- Now pour in the milk and gently stir.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, and desiccated coconut.
- Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt till stiff in a separate bowl
- Add them to the cake batter, mixing from the top to the bottom. This will make the sponge extra soft.
- Pour the batter into a 20 cm cake thin and shake it very gently (you don’t want to lose all the air in your egg whites) to even it out.
- Bake for 55 minutes at 180 °C fan oven
- Decorate with desiccated coconut flakes and raspberries, of course, this is all optional. I normally eat it as it is, hot straight out of the oven. Irresistible!