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Chocolate-Coconut Pound Cake

Source of Recipe

Bon Appetit, March 2014


Recipe Introduction

This is an absolutely perfect cake. Rich and moist with a tight crumb. I didn’t have coconut flakes, so I used shredded coconut and omitted the extra sugar. This may be why I had to tent with foil for almost the entire cooking time –I’m sure that shredded coconut browns much faster than the flakes. I had to warm up the coconut oil slightly to be able to mix it with the butter – not to the liquid stage, just softened.

List of Ingredients

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (6 3/8 oz.)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (1 1/2 oz.)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, room temperature
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes



Recipe

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 8x4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper – leaving a good overhang on long sides.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, at medium-high speed, beat the oil, butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar until pale and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating to mix after each egg. Beat until the mixture is very light and doubled in volume – about 5-8 minutes. Mix in the vanilla.

Lower the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 parts. Begin and end with the flour mixture and DO NOT OVERMIX or the cake will buckle and split. Pour the batter into the pan and run a spatula through the center, making a canal. Sprinkle with the coconut and the 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake the cake for 70-80 minutes – until it passes the toothpick test. You will probably need to tent with foil if the coconut browns too much – it should be dark and very toasty. Place the pan on a rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Remove from pan and place back on the rack to cool completely.

NOTE: Cake can be baked 5 days ahead. Keep tightly wrapped at room temperature.