Coconut Cake Bites With Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting & Chocolate Drizzle

I think everyone, at some point in their lives, wants to try drinking coconut milk from a coconut. 

And once they have, they don't seem to understand what all the fuss was about. 

I've had two experiences with this, and neither experience left me in awe of the wonder of fresh coconut milk. Don't get me wrong! The joys of cooking with the liquid are plenteous! But drinking it, straight from the shell, is nothing that exciting. Well, at least not to me. My mother-in-law, who is from Trinidad, could drink it all day long. I'm sure regularity is not something she struggles with...

Oh but the joy of cooking with the stuff. That's another story altogether. And this recipe capitalizes on that joy with a beautiful, tropical dessert that will transport you to a sandy beach at sunset. After you've put the finishing touches on these tiny little tantalizers, sit back, turn on some island music, and enjoy a tropical treat that just might make you call your travel agent. 

(Special thanks to Austin Raver for the great photograph of these bites)

Coconut Cake Bites with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting and Chocolate Drizzle

Ingredients: 


Cake:

2 3/4 Cups Flour

1 Tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1 3/4 Cups Sugar

2 Sticks (1 cup) Unsalted Butter (softened)

1 Cup Coco Lopez Cream Of Coconut

4 Large Eggs, separated

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract 

2 Tsp. Coconut Extract

1 Cup Buttermilk

Frosting: 

2 8 oz. Packages Cream Cheese (softened)

1 Stick (1/2 Cup) Unsalted Butter (softened)

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

1/2 Cup Coco Lopez Cream Of Coconut

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

2 Tsp. Coconut Extract

Topping & Chocolate Sauce Drizzle:

1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut

2 cups water

6 oz. Chocolate Chips

1/4 Cup Butter 

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Oil and flour two round 9” cake pans or two 9x13” pans. 

Make the chocolate sauce drizzle by heating 2 cups water to boiling over high heat. In a double boiler, add the chocolate chips, butter and heavy cream. Reduce heat to medium. Stir well until all ingredients are melted, combined well, and have created a sauce. Set aside until ready to use. 

In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. 

In a large bowl , combine sugar, butter and cream of coconut. Beat together with an electric mixer on medium until creamy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Add vanilla and coconut extracts. Carefully, on low speed, beat in dry ingredients. Add buttermilk, and mix just until blended together. 

In another bowl, add the egg whites with a pinch of salt. If you have a whisk attachment for your mixer, use that to beat the egg whites until they are fluffy and stiff. Add this to the cake batter, folding in carefully. 

Divide your batter between your two cake pans. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes, until an inserted toothpick or knife comes out clean. Allow them to cool completely before creating the cake bites. When cool, use a spoon and your hands to form 2” balls. Place on a plate until ready to frost and drizzle with the chocolate sauce. 

Make your frosting by creaming together the butter and cream cheese with your mixer. Then add and combine the cream of coconut, vanilla extract and coconut extract. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and beat together until smooth. 

To assemble, place the frosting in a piping bag, or just put in a ziploc bag and snip off one of the corners. Add a good dollop of frosting to each cake bit. Then take the shredded coconut and sprinkle over the tops of the bites. If you have a condiment bottle, fill that with the chocolate sauce, and drizzle over the top of everything. If not, just use a spoon. Tasting good is certainly more important than looking good :) 

Because Eating Good Is A Calling Of Its Own, 

The Fat Pastor

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