Chocolate Bundt Cake With A Creamy Coconut Filling

Ya know, for a woman who once claimed to not like coconut, I have noticed that my tune has changed and I have quite a few coconut recipes in here now. I’ve always thought that that aspect of human physiology was interesting. We can hate or love something for years and then all of a sudden, we do a 360 on how we feel about it. Other than Mounds Bars or Almond Joy bars, just 2 years ago you’d be hard pressed to find me saying anything nice about coconut. Coconut flavor I was fine on as well as coconut milk (I could happily drink it with a straw 😛 ) but actual coconut? No way.

What about you? Anything that you have changed your mind on in either direction as you’ve aged? Food wise that is.

All that said, obviously the recipe for today contains coconut. What? You were expecting goose liver perchance? Some Morels? Not sure either of them would have gone as well with this cake. And believe me, coconut goes well in this. the first two “taste testers” I served this to took a bite and then their faces went into that “omg, this is good” look that all food bloggers love to see 😀

This is a very moist cake, which makes it a good keeper if you make sure it stays covered. The coconut filling is very reminiscent of a Mounds bar but with a bit of an almond flavor to it (if you’re not a fan of almond extract, feel free to omit it.)  Then there is the chocolate ganache glaze. Really? Do I need to describe it? Chocolate ganache. Enough said. Go… shoo… bake. Thank me later.

Chocolate Bundt Cake With A Creamy Coconut Filling

• Filling-
• 2 cups (one small bag) shredded sweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• Cake-
• 3 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sifted (yes, sifted; cocoa always has those little lumps it leaves behind otherwise) unsweetened cocoa powder (not hot chocolate mix)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups unsalted butter, room temp
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut flavoring
• 5 eggs, room temp
• 2 cups sour cream (NOT low fat)
• Glaze-
• 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Garnish-
• 1/2 cup toasted coconut

1. Combine all your filling ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. For the cake- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. If, like me, you only have a 10 cup pan, also grease 5 king sized muffin cups because if you try to fit all this batter into a 10 cup pan, you WILL have it overflow all over your oven. Been there, done that, learned my lesson.
3. Whisk together your dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
4. In a large bowl, beat the butter at high speed until creamy. Add the sugars and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract and coconut flavoring. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture, add it in three batches, alternating with the sour cream.
6. Spoon a little less than half of the batter into the prepared bundt pan. (If using a ten cup pan, FIRST fill the 5 prepared muffin pans about 2/3 full THEN go to the bundt pan, using about half of the remaining batter. Don’t use the coconut filling in the cupcakes; just think of them as extras to hoard for yourself :-p )
7. Carefully spoon the coconut filling over the batter in the pan. Make sure it is in the middle of the pan, not touching either side or it will stick and make the cake difficult to remove.
8. Spoon the rest of the batter carefully over the top of the filling, smoothing it down where needed.
9. Bake at 350 for about an hour and ten minutes for the 12 cup pan, about 50 minutes for a ten cup (about 20 minutes for the cupcakes) or until a wooden skewer inserted in the cake (make sure to get the cake not the filling) comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it.
10. Set on a wire rack and allow to cool until just barely warm then turn the cake out onto the rack to finish cooling completely before glazing.
11. For the glaze- heat your cream just to boiling in the microwave. Pour over the chopped chocolate in a bowl and let sit for about 3 minutes, Stir to combine. Let it sit for a bit to thicken up somewhat. Spoon over the cooled cake. Garnish with the toasted coconut.
12. If you have any glaze and/or coconut left (which you will) just dump the coconut into the ganache, stir well then put it into the fridge until it firms up. You can then scoop it out and form it into small truffles. Or just spoon it out and eat it in front of the TV watching bad reality show reruns. I won’t tell.