When a four-year old asks you to make her a birthday cake with lots of chocolate, you oblige. And then you add some marshmallow fluff, two layers of graham cracker cake, and an entire rice krispie treat and tell yourself that clearly what she wanted was a giant, crunchy, s'mores cake.
Chocolate Cake with Purple, Pink, and Blue Frosting
Toddlers are sweet and fun and spunky and creative but they can also be very particular especially when it comes to their birthday cake. So I was prepared when a certain birthday girl turned three and wanted a "chocolate cake with purple, pink, and blue frosting with a cherry on top."
So here we are: a three layer chocolate cake with purple, pink, and blue tinted swiss meringue buttercream. Dotted with sour cherry candies and some sprinkles.
Chocolate Coconut Macaroon Cake
I don't know about you but I have a bit of a problem when it comes to tasting desserts that I make. And by "problem" I mean that it is close to impossible for me to not eat 3-100% of said dessert. So it is always nice to find one that I don't care for--no temptation, no stomach ache.
But don't let my super enticing introduction stop you from making this dessert. Everyone on the planet likes this chocolate coconut macaroon cake except me because the rest of the planet does not vehemently hate coconut flakes as much as I do. What tastes like soggy pieces of plastic to me is apparently delicious to everyone else!
But you know what is enticing to me about this cake? Its simplicity: it includes very few ingredients and relies on very little equipment (which means there is very little to clean up, ding ding ding). Oh, and it is beautiful. Really beautiful.
Chocolate Macaroon Cake with Raspberry Frosting
adapted from mynameiyeh
Cake
1 14-oz bag sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
raspberry puree (or peach, strawberry, lemon, etc), to taste
Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray three 6-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together the coconut, cocoa powder, and salt. In a second bowl, whisk together the egg whites, vanilla, and condensed milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Spread one third of the batter into each cake pan and bake for about 18 minutes, until each layer is no longer shiny.
Make the frosting: Beat all ingredients together until smooth.
