Best Coconut Chocolate Cake

December. Six hours of light. Sunset at three-forty-three. The Christmas lights came on overnight in Anchorage — the city collectively deciding that the dark needs argument and the argument is electricity. I love this part of the year. The strings of bulbs say: we will not surrender.

I started the Christmas blog series. Four posts, one per week. The first post: bibingka. I described the way Lourdes used to wake up at four in the morning in Mountain View when I was a child to make bibingka for Simbang Gabi, the dawn novena Masses leading up to Christmas. The smell of the bibingka would be in the hallway. The smell would say: it is dark and it is cold and it is December and your mother is awake and the world is still here.

Lourdes is doing Simbang Gabi this year. Nine dawn Masses, December 16-24. She has done it every year I have been alive. She is seventy-three. The early-morning waking is harder for her now. Angela and I take turns driving her — five AM mornings, the Anchorage roads dark and icy.

I called Dr. Esposito at UAA on Friday. We had a short conversation about MSN coursework. She told me about the program — when to apply, what the prerequisites were, how the part-time track worked. She said, "When you're ready to apply, I will write your recommendation. So will Pete." I said, "Pete?" She said, "Pete called me a week ago. He says you're the next teacher. He has been saying it for years." I sat at the kitchen table after hanging up. Pete had been quietly mentoring me. The mentoring was the love. Pete is the friend who arranges things and never tells you he arranged them.

Bibingka is coconut and rice and warmth — and when I went looking for something to bake alongside this post, I kept coming back to coconut as the through-line, the scent that unlocks the memory. This Best Coconut Chocolate Cake won’t pretend to be bibingka, but coconut carries the same signal for me: someone who loves you was awake before the sun. I made it on a Sunday after Simbang Gabi, after driving Lourdes home on icy roads at six in the morning, after sitting at the kitchen table thinking about Pete — and it was exactly the kind of cake that earns its place at a December table.

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup neutral oil (such as canola or coconut oil, melted)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, divided
For the frosting: 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
Mix wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, cooled coffee, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine the batter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in 3/4 cup of the shredded coconut.
Bake. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 32–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting. Beat the softened butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the sifted powdered sugar and cocoa powder in two additions, alternating with the coconut milk. Add the vanilla and salt and beat on high for 1 minute until smooth and creamy.
Toast the coconut. Spread the remaining 1/4 cup shredded coconut in a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently for 3–4 minutes until golden. Remove from heat and cool.
Frost and finish. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread a generous layer of frosting on top. Set the second layer on top and frost the top and sides of the entire cake. Press the toasted coconut around the top edge or over the surface to finish.

Nutrition (per serving)

Best Coconut Chocolate Cake — The Smell in the Hallway That Says the World Is Still Here