If you know me at all, you know that I would rather eat dessert than anything. This cake is by far, one of the best and most delicious cakes, EVER!!!!
Years ago, when I lived in Corpus Christi we belonged to a club that the chef would make this cake about once a week or so. Anytime we ate there, I would order a piece. When it was my birthday one year, one of the ladies who worked there and knew I loved that cake so much, brought out the recipe to me for my birthday gift. It is always a special memory for me. Some years later, I was looking though the Tea Time Magazine, 2004 and there it was. A picture of the cake and the recipe. So wanted to share to with you as it makes a great Easter dessert. Of course, this year, we are finding ourselves probably making a meal from things we have on hand. I’m hearing from some friends that they cannot find flour anywhere around them. Because most of us are doing curbside pickup of groceries, we might not know until we get home that some of the things we ordered on-line were substituted for things that the store had instead. But, if you do have cream cheese and butter and coconut and buttermilk and sour cream…well you get the picture! You might just want to substitute a milk chocolate cake mix but frost it with the chocolate cream cheese frosting. It is a great cake, no matter. After all, it’s always the frosting that makes the cake anyway, right?
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
5 eggs, room temperature, seperated
2 cups cake flour, or regular flour, but (if using regular flour, be sure to sift it a couple of times and take out about 2 tables)
1 teas baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa, unsweetened
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tables vanilla
1/2 cup coconut (topping)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (topping)
Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter, shortening and sugar.
Add egg yolks, one at a time. Mix in flour, baking soda, cocoa, buttermilk, sour cream and vanilla.
Mix together for 2 minutes or until batter is smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites and fold into cake batter. *See note below about adding coconut and chopped pecans to batter.
Spray 3 (9′) cake pans with Pam and then flour pans. Divide batter evenly between the 3 pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tests done. Remove from oven and let cake layers cool on wire racks. Meanwhile make the frosting:
1/2 cup softened butter
16 oz of cream cheese, softened
5 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tables vanilla
Cream together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
Add powdered sugar, cocoa and vanilla.
Frost between layers and then sides and top of cake. Sprinkle the coconut and chopped pecans on top of cake.
*(I didn’t follow the directions on this recipe. I actually added the coconut and pecans to the frosting and stir them in before frosting the cake. I think it keeps the coconut softer for a longer period, plus it gives you more of the coconut and pecan flavor rather than just on top. Plus I added about 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 cup coconut to the cake batter before pouring batter into the cake pans)
Chocolate Castles as wel 