Post by amarante on Nov 2, 2016 11:46:52 GMT -5
CHOCOLATE LAZY-DAISY SHEET CAKE
Excerpt From: Amy Thielen - The New Midwestern Table
SERVES 20
Lazy is right. This is a classic moist, midnight-black cocoa cake baked in a regulation 9 × 13-inch baking pan and topped with a broiled coconut lazy-daisy topping. It shares a family resemblance with German chocolate cake but is much easier to make, and possibly even more luscious: the coconut caramel saturates the top inch beneath the crispy topping, as if it were a chocolate tres leches cake.
Sheet cakes are very popular in the Midwest, and for good reason. For a large party, they’re more practical, and even though they contain the same volume of batter as a layer cake, sheet cakes enforce the illusion of feeding more people. Best of all, they can be cut into squares right in the dish and left at the top of the buffet line for self-service.
2¼ cups cake flour, plus more for the baking dish
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ cup boiling water
1 tablespoon baking soda
9 ounces (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) salted butter, plus more for the baking dish
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
¾ cup brewed coffee, cold
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups (lightly packed) light brown sugar
½ cup coconut milk
2 cups flaked or shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9 × 13-inch baking pan.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. In a small dish, pour the boiling water over the baking soda; stir to combine.
Melt 10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) of the butter. Pour into a large bowl, and whisk in the granulated sugar, buttermilk, eggs, coffee, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture, whisk until smooth, and then stir in the baking soda mixture, scraping the dish to get all of it.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake until a thin cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let the cake cool.
Turn on the broiler and position an oven rack 6 inches below it.
For the topping, combine the remaining 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, the brown sugar, and the coconut milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring, and cook until the grains of brown sugar melt, about 1 minute. Stir in the flaked coconut and remove from the heat.
When the broiler is ready, spread the coconut topping gently and evenly over the top of the cake. Broil the cake, keeping watch and rotating as necessary, until the entire surface has browned, about 3 minutes. Cool befure cutting the cake into squares.
Excerpt From: Amy Thielen - The New Midwestern Table
SERVES 20
Lazy is right. This is a classic moist, midnight-black cocoa cake baked in a regulation 9 × 13-inch baking pan and topped with a broiled coconut lazy-daisy topping. It shares a family resemblance with German chocolate cake but is much easier to make, and possibly even more luscious: the coconut caramel saturates the top inch beneath the crispy topping, as if it were a chocolate tres leches cake.
Sheet cakes are very popular in the Midwest, and for good reason. For a large party, they’re more practical, and even though they contain the same volume of batter as a layer cake, sheet cakes enforce the illusion of feeding more people. Best of all, they can be cut into squares right in the dish and left at the top of the buffet line for self-service.
2¼ cups cake flour, plus more for the baking dish
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ cup boiling water
1 tablespoon baking soda
9 ounces (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) salted butter, plus more for the baking dish
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
¾ cup brewed coffee, cold
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups (lightly packed) light brown sugar
½ cup coconut milk
2 cups flaked or shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9 × 13-inch baking pan.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. In a small dish, pour the boiling water over the baking soda; stir to combine.
Melt 10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) of the butter. Pour into a large bowl, and whisk in the granulated sugar, buttermilk, eggs, coffee, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture, whisk until smooth, and then stir in the baking soda mixture, scraping the dish to get all of it.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake until a thin cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let the cake cool.
Turn on the broiler and position an oven rack 6 inches below it.
For the topping, combine the remaining 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, the brown sugar, and the coconut milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring, and cook until the grains of brown sugar melt, about 1 minute. Stir in the flaked coconut and remove from the heat.
When the broiler is ready, spread the coconut topping gently and evenly over the top of the cake. Broil the cake, keeping watch and rotating as necessary, until the entire surface has browned, about 3 minutes. Cool befure cutting the cake into squares.