Chocolate & Coconut Birthday Layer Cake

A few months back a guy from my church sent me a text asking if I could make a birthday cake for his wife. I love making cakes, especially birthday cakes! I will bake cakes any day of the week if I am asked, try me - it's true! but unfortunately the date of her birthday was the same day as my very last ever university exam for my masters degree.  

As much as I love baking and it will generally take precedence over anything else scholastically related or other...even if I had to draw the line at replacing last minute revision by a baking session...

but I really didn't want to let him down, after all he had showered me with compliments in the text message about how his wife loves following my blog and everything I make and no other cake would be good enough.

So I told him, if he didn't mind it being a day late, I could whip it up the evening after my exam and drop it round the next day and so it was a done deal! 

The only guidance he gave me was that she likes things that are pink or girly, and I knew she was a lover of coconut so this coconut and chocolate layer cake complete with plenty of pink and plenty of girliness was created!

I used my go to chocolate cake recipe but substituted the regular milk for coconut milk.  I decided it was looking a little too pink and so came up with the idea to pipe little chocolate frosting swirls all the way around the top of the cake.  I melted a little coconut chocolate into the frosting too to give it a coconut hint.  

After I dropped it off, I received a text message from the husband saying he had been given the duty of cutting it since his wife thought it was too pretty to cut so I think it went down well! 

If I had a picture of the inside of the cake you would see pink frosting peeking out from all the chocolatey layers but as thorough as a food blogger as I am, giving someone a birthday cake with one slice cut out of purely for photography purposes is a definite no-no, so you'll have to use your imaginations or bake one up for yourself to see the prettiness! 

Chocolate & Coconut Layer Cake:

Serves 16

Adapted from Cupcakes from The Primose Bakery

230g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids - I used Lindt)

170g unsalted butter, at room temperature

350g light soft brown sugar

3 large eggs, free range or organic, separated

370g plain flour, sifted

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

500ml coconut milk, at room temperature

2 teaspoons good quality vanilla extract (I use Nielsen-Massey)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Grease three 8" cake tins (this recipe makes 3 cakes, I had a silicone cake tin disaster with one of my cakes so only ended up using 2 in the end!)

Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in 30 second intervals in a glass bowl in the microwave, or using a bain marie.  Set bowl aside to cool. 

Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is pale and smooth.

Put the egg yolks in a separate bowl, and beat them for several minutes.  Slowly add the egg yolks to the creamed butter and sugar and beat well.  

Add the cooled chocolate to this mixture and beat well again.

Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a separate bowl.  

Combine the coconut milk and vanilla extract in a jug.  Add one third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well.  Pour in one third of the milk and beat again.  Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk have been added.  

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks start to form.  Carefully, fold the egg whites into the main batter using a metal spoon (do not beat or you will take the air out of the mixture).

Divide the mixture evenly between the cake tins and bake for about 30 minutes.

Insert a knife into the centre of one of the cakes, it should come out clean if cooked.

Leave to cool in cake tins for 10 minutes.  Gently run a knife around the edge of the cake and release cake from the tin, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Coconut Frosting:

Makes one batch (I used two batches to frost the above cake)

Adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery

375g icing sugar

120g unsalted butter, softened

40ml coconut milk

Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding electric mixer on medium speed until the mixture comes together.  

Add coconut milk and beat until it has been incorporated.

Turn up to high speed and beat for 5 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Tint the frosting using red gel colour to the desired shade of pale pink.

Repeat this again to make a second batch (I don't like to make double batches in one go because when you're dealing with such large amounts of icing sugar it leaves a sugar covering over everything in your kitchen!)

Chocolate Coconut Frosting:

Makes half a batch (enough to pipe the swirls above)

Adapted from Cupcakes from The Primrose Bakery

45g dark chocolate (70% Lindt)

45g dark coconut chocolate (I used Lindt Excellence)

113g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk, at room temperature

1/2 tsp good quality vanilla extract

145g icing sugar, sifted

Melt the chocolate in 30 second intervals in a glass bowl in the microwave until smooth.  Leave to cool slightly.  In a freestanding bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, milk, vanilla extract and icing sugar until smooth - this can take several minutes.  Add the melted chocolate and beat again until smooth.

To Assemble:

Level your cakes using a very sharp knife or a cake leveller.

Apply a generous amount of coconut frosting in between each layer of cake.  Apply a final thin crumb coat all over the cake.  Put in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Take out of the fridge, and apply a very thin layer of coconut frosting.  Smooth it out using a sharp knife dipped in hot water.  

Using a open star tip or a 1m nozzle, pipe the remainder of your coconut frosting around the outside of the cake, starting in the middle and working your way out in small circles to create the swirls.

Do individual swirls on the top of the cake using the chocolate-coconut frosting.  Finish with a pink sugar heart on each swirl. 

Melt chocolate candy melts in a small bowl.  Put in a piping bag once slightly cooled.  Pipe out the writing you want to put on top of the cake on to a piece of parchment paper.  Once it is completely cool and hard, transfer it to the top of the cake and press it into the frosting.

Coconut Birdie Nest Cupcakes with Mini Eggs for Easter

I just finished an essay that is due in tomorrow, my reward is blogging this post! I don't want to have to think about verbal operants, listener and speaker responses or mand repertoires for the next little while so let's talk about cupcakes instead! 

These were the next Easter offerings I made for my cupcake stall! Coconut cupcakes with creamy coconut frosting, and a sprinkling of toasted shredded coconut that I arranged to look like a nest and then I filled the nest with Cadbury's Mini Eggs! 

I was even able to use the super cute chick toppers I got free in the Easter issue of my Love Baking Magazine.

As you all know by now coconut is one of my very favourite flavours! but I am aware that for whatever strange reason it is a bit of a love/hate thing for others.

Apparently for the people of North Wales, it's a hate thing! I only sold one of my coconut flavoured cupcakes! and that was to a South African lady.  

Seriously, it's so boring just liking plain vanilla and chocolate cupcakes - people need to be more adventurous with their tastes! At the end of the day though it meant there were lots of coconut cupcakes left over for us to indulge in so it wasn't all bad! 

Coconut Cupcakes:

Makes 12 Regular and 24 Mini

From Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery

165g unsalted butter, at room temperature

270g caster sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

187g self-raising flour

180g plain flour

187ml coconut milk

40g desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until pale and smooth, which should take about 3-5 minutes using an electric mixer.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for a few minutes after each addition and adding the vanilla extract at the end.

Combine the two flours in a separate bowl.  Add one-third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well.  Pour in one-third of the coconut milk and beat again.  Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk have been added.  Fold in the desiccated coconut using a metal spoon.

Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them two-thirds full.  

Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until slightly raised and golden brown, or when an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave in the cake tins to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Coconut Frosting:

Makes enough to frost the above

From The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

560g icing sugar

180g unsalted butter, softened

60ml coconut milk

Beat half the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding mixer on medium speed until the mixture comes together, then add the remaining butter and sugar.

Add coconut milk and beat until incorporated. 

Turn up to high speed and beat for 5 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy.

To decorate:

Toasted shredded coconut

3 packs of Cadbury's Mini Eggs

I'm sharing these for Cupcake Tuesday over at Hoosier Homemade! 

Chocolate & Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting & Love Baking Magazine

Last month I was contacted by a new baking magazine to see if I wanted to submit one of my cupcakes to be part of their bloggers gallery.

I was all ready to think up my most inventive and original Christmas cupcake when I was told that the issue I would be published in was actually going to be a Valentine's issue!! So right in the middle of all my Christmas baking, I whipped up these special Valentine's cupcakes! 

If you're visiting my blog for the first time or if you found me through the magazine then welcome! and if you liked the look of my chocolate and coconut cupcakes then you will find the recipe below! 

This is the first time I have baked from my Magnolia recipe book and I wasn't sure what to expect but I am pleased to tell you that these cupcakes were some of the fluffiest and most delicious I have baked in a while! 

Chocolate & Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting:

Makes 14

Adapted from More from Magnolia

For the cupcakes:

185g plain flour

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

90g unsalted butter, softened

125g light brown sugar

2 eggs, separated

125g plain chocolate, at least 60% cocoa solids

235ml coconut milk

¾ tsp vanilla extract

20g desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c.

Line the baking pan with cupcakes cases.

Separate the eggs when cold and then allow them to come to room temp before proceeding with the recipe.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in 30 minute bursts in the microwave.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a freestanding mixer on medium speed, cream the butter until smooth.  Add the sugar and beat for 3 minutes until fluffy.

In a separate bowl beat the egg yolks for 2 minutes until thick.  Add them to the mix and beat well.  Add the chocolate, mixing until incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the coconut milk and vanilla.  Scrape down with a spatula in between additions making sure everything is well blended.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.  Gently fold them into the batter using a wooden spoon.  Stir in the desiccated coconut.

Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Cool in pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

For the frosting:

Adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

375g icing sugar

120g unsalted butter, softened

40ml coconut milk

Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding mixer on medium speed until the mixture comes together.

Add coconut milk and beat until it has been incorporated.

Turn up to high speed and beat for 5 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy

To decorate:

Melted plain chocolate

Shredded coconut

Large red heart sprinkles

Melt chocolate in microwave or in a double boiler.  Leave to cool. Drizzle over the top of the frosting and sprinkle with shredded coconut.  Finish with a large heart sprinkle.

I was very excited to get my copy of the Love Baking Cupcakes & Sweet Treats magazine:

It is sold in WHSmith, Hobbycraft and most supermarkets and is in shops now.  If you turn to page 8 you can see a picture of my cupcakes, along with lots of other yummy looking cupcakes from The Baking Addict, I heart cupcakes, Apple and Spice, American Cupcake in London, The Nom Bakery, American Chop Suey and The Caked Crusader:

and not only that but with each issue of the magazine you always get tons of good freebies.  With this issue I got a free cupcake box, an individual heart cookie box, heart cupcake wrappers, and heart cookie cutters - all will come in handy when my official Valentine's baking begins! 

Not only that, but the magazine comes packed with tons of yummy recipes.  There are so many I want to try, and my favourite part of all is the awesome tab stickers you get! So as soon as I saw this coconut brownie recipe (being the coconut lover I am) I knew I wanted to bake it, and so I could peel off this little tab sticker and bookmark it for later! How cool!

They also do a good feature with each issue where they showcase some of the UK's best cupcakeries.  I was interested to see in this issue that I had reviewed 3 of the same cupcakeries they had here on my blog.  You can read about Dixie's Cupcakery in St.Albans, Sweet Tooth Cupcakery in Manchester and one of my all time favourites - Queenie's in Shropshire.

So what are you waiting for - if you're an avid baker or cupcake crazy like myself then pick up a copy, you won't be disappointed! 

Raspberry & Coconut and Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

So last weekend I had an order for some cupcakes for a 50th birthday celebration.  They wanted enough cupcakes to be able to make them into a 5 and a 0.  It was a bit daunting because they gave me free reign over which colours/flavours to make! I always prefer having a specification to work to as you never know peoples likes/dislikes! 

I had been dreaming up a coconut and raspberry concoction for quite a while, to me it seems like a good pairing but after much googling I found it's pretty non-existent in the cupcake world! I decided to use the coconut recipe from Primrose Bakery and then I just made a raspberry coulis I swirled through the batter. Raspberries are my new favourite fruit and I loved how vibrant the colour was after I blitzed them up in the blender!  

I just wanted to drink this straight from the jug but I refrained! These are my fun heart measuring cups!

I frosted these with coconut buttercream, nice and high, but unfortunately when I put the raspberry on top the frosting squashed down a little so here they are pre raspberry:

And here is the finished product with shredded coconut and raspberries to top it off

My Chocolate Mint creations didn't quite go to plan! I decided to try out a recipe I'd found online and I really wasn't pleased with the results! They just weren't as chocolate-y as I'd hoped they would be.  So I had to bake a whole new batch and this time I used a good old Martha recipe which didn't let me down (I don't know why I didn't do this to begin with!) I then frosted them with swiss meringue buttercream (which was supposed to be tinted green but my gel colourings just weren't bonding with the frosting at all!) so I gave up on the tinting and just added a sprinkling of green sanding sugar and an after eight to top it off.

Coconut & Raspberry Cupcakes:

Makes 12 cupcakes

110g unsalted butter, at room temperature

180g caster sugar

2 large eggs, free range

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

125g self raising flour

120g plain flour

125ml coconut milk

25g desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl which should take about 3-5 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time until incorporated.  Add the vanilla.

Combine the two flours in a separate bowl.  Add 1/3 of the flours to the creamed mixture and beat well.  Pour in 1/3 of the coconut milk and beat again.  Repeat these steps until all the flours and coconut milk have been added.

Fold in the desiccated coconut using a spoon

Raspberry Coulis:

Recipe from here

200g fresh raspberries

75g icing sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

Put the raspberries in a blender.  

Add the sieved sugar and lemon juice.

Whizz it all up and have a taste, if it's too sour add a little more sugar, if it's too sweet add a little more lemon juice.

The final but very important step is push the coulis through a sieve, this removes the seeds and makes it nice and smooth.  

Once the coulis was made I poured it into the cupcake batter and swirled it through in a marble pattern with a knife.  

Fill your cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 25 minutes.  Insert a toothpick into the cakes and if it comes out clean and crumb free they are ready.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, whip up some...

Coconut Frosting:

1 stick/113g unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup coconut milk

Beat butter until smooth and creamy.

Add sugar and milk and beat until a spreadable consistency.  Add additional sugar, up to one cup if you require stiffer frosting for piping.

Top each cupcake with shredded coconut and a fresh raspberry.

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes:

Makes 18 Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups plain flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract

3/4 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together all the dry ingredients.  Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, extract and the water.  Beat on low speed until smooth and combined, remembering to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Fill your cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Frost with...

Mint Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

5 large egg whites

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 sticks/452g unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons (room temperature)

1 1/2 tsp pure peppermint extract

Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in the heatproof bowl of a stand mixer set over a pan of simmering water.  Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved.

Attach the bowl to the mixer with the whisk attachment.  Start on slow, and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form.  Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy and completely cool...about 10 minutes.

With mixer on medium low speed, add the butter a few tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Once all butter has been added, whisk in peppermint extract.  Switch to the paddle attachment and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes.  Scrape down sides of bowl and continue beating until frosting is completely smooth.

Top each cupcake with a single After Eight mint and a sprinkling of green sanding sugar.