Chocolate-Coconut Layer Cake

Wow was this an extensive amount of time to spend on a recipe. Especially one we didn't like. I guess its my fault for not paying more attention to the ingredients before I committed to this cake, but I couldn't get over how bitter the chocolate icing was. The coconut flavor was hardly noticeable, but next to the strong dark chocolate icing not much could be. I added extra sugar and coconut oil to the icing which definitely helped but when I think cake, I don't think bitter. This was not a winner for me. Wish they had named it Bittersweet chocolate coconut so there would have been more warning without reading through the whole thing.

I enjoy spending time in my kitchen, and knowing it would take hours, I made this cake for a chocolate-loving octogenarian.  He LOVED it!  He particularly enjoyed the coconut creme filling combined with the dark chocolate flavor.  My husband labeled it "the absolute worst cake I have ever tasted."I made this recipe the second time thinking I had made some kind of mistake the first time, which resulted in a heavy, not-very-sweet cake.  Not so.  This is just a very dense cake, with a great flavor of dark chocolate combined with a lovely coconut creme.If I try it again---and my friend likes it so much, I might---I will use a different cake recipe, a different frosting recipe, and make the coconut creme filling to serve alongside.

If I could give this cake less than 1 star, I would! First, it was extremely time consuming! 3 1/2 hours is a very modest estimate to prep this cake! I would not have minded the time spent in the least had the outcome been worth it!!! I made it for my husband's b'day & was so very disappointed! I bake from Southern Living all the time & have never been disappointed until now! Not only a huge waste of time but ingredients!!! Lots of Ghirardelli chocolate and heavy cream which are expensive! And then, there is all the cleanup! Add another 3 hours for that! At best this cake takes an entire day & will probably be thrown out! Southern Living, what were you thinking?!?!

I have made other Southern Living cakes for Thanksgiving and Christmas and all were great even though some were time consuming.  I followed the recipe for the cake layers to the tee and they were quite heavy not very moist.  I made the cakes 4 days and stored according to the recipe.  I was disappointed because ALL the chocolate overpowered the coconut flavor.  The cake was SO RICH it could feed 30 and not 10.  I have to say I was constantly washing bowls and utensils.  The cake took more than 3 hours to make and put together as per the recipe.  Fortunately we had other desserts for Thanksgiving dinner to fill the void.  The only good thing about the cake was it was eye appealing.

Thanks for this amazing cake recipe. Yes, it is rather complicated - but OH, so delicious! I actually made it twice in two weeks for different events. It was very well received, got lots of compliments! 

Make the cake layers first - even several days early and wrap tightly and freeze. The custard is really amazing - but made old-school. Worth it.

The chocolate ganache (which recipe calls 'frosting') requires patience. I used it while still warmish on the cake layers. Not too warm, or it won't stay. But it sinks down into those sliced layers and is amazing when complete.

Then the same ganache/frosting needs to be put in the fridge and checked every 5 minutes or so as it cools. I put a wire whip in my stainless bowl and set the timer, whipping a bit of air into it until it was cooled to a 'frosting' consistency. Probably takes about 20-30 minutes in the fridge. Then I frosted the outside of my assembled cake.

Use great ingredients. Guittard Chocolate was easy to work with and magical to taste. Pressing toasted coconut flakes on the outside was a great finishing touch. 

Makes dense chocolate cake with ganache/custard filling and ganache frosting. And it's beautiful!

Rave reviews and many requests for the recipe!

I love chocolate and coconut and decided to devote an afternoon to this cake.  Well, besides the huge number of ingredients, the time commitment is crazy.  Having said that, the entire recipe is backwards.  Start by baking the cakes, let cool.  Then start the filling--and let it cool for two hours.  Then do the frosting and let it cool.  Put it all together 8 hours later--all right, I'm exaggerating by a little.  In any case, when you start the filling, you realize that it is simple cornstarch pudding with some coconut flavor.  I was washing bowls without end....and, at the end, had a nice, tasty cake not worth all that trouble.  I couldn't get the frosting to thicken, even after several hours of chilling so I just added powdered sugar and thickened it that way.  It's pretty, and of course, very rich, what with pounds of chocolate and butter in it; but the cake itself is a little tough.  If you're trying to kill an entire day, here's a project for you.