Chocolate Cake With Broiled Coconut Frosting

This decadent cake consists of a moist and fluffy chocolate sponge covered in a deliciously chewy coconut topping. An easy-to-make chocolate batter made out of pantry staples such as cocoa, butter, and eggs gets its tangy touch thanks to some buttermilk, which makes the batter airy and rich while helping it to have a better, more even rise. The cake is ready in just 40 minutes, after which you need to cool it slightly before adding the topping and broiling it for about 5 minutes. The result is a rich chocolate cake with a moist topping that you can have ready to slice in one hour. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for an extra-special dessert, or slice it in rectangular bars or smaller squares to present on your dessert table.

This homemade treat is made with unsweetened cocoa powder, which is different than cacao powder. Although both are products derived from the cacao bean, cocoa powder is the result of unfermented cacao beans being processed at a low temperature and then ground into a powder that is rich in taste though very bitter. Cacao powder, on the other hand, is the product of beans being roasted at high temperatures, resulting in a powder that is less bitter, but also much less nutritional than dark cocoa powder. Most cocoa powders have added ingredients and are usually sold in a ready-to-eat form. Just add milk or water and you can have a cup of hot chocolate in just minutes. Cacao, on the other hand, is less processed, and it's usually unsweetened. Most bakes, like ours, use cocoa powder, as it blends easily into batters and adds a tasty chocolate flavor. If you are using sweetened cocoa, reduce the amount of granulated sugar you add to the batter.

Finally, use evaporated milk, which is a form of unsweetened condensed milk. Although they're similar in color and texture, evaporated milk has no sugar, while condensed milk does. Because you're using sweetened coconut flakes, you don't need the extra sugar of the condensed milk. If you, however, are using unsweetened coconut flakes, using condensed milk instead is not a bad idea. For the topping, which should be sweet and chewy, we recommend pecans, but other nuts work well, too—cashews and almonds especially.