Of course J got his birthday cake as well. It was a bit thin,thinner than I expected, but I guess it is my fault I do not have a 7- or 8-inch cake pan, but a bigger one. I did changed the original recipe a bit, in order to fill my big cake pan, but it did not work. So I suggest you to use a small cake pan to get a nice and thick cake.
- 6 tbsp flaked coconut
- 125 g bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp light rum
- 4 large eggs
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp flour
- 0.25 tsp salt
# In a baking dish toast 4 tbsp coconut flakes in a middle of a preheated 180 degrees C oven until it just begins to colour (about 10 minutes). Transfer it to a small bowl and let it cool.
# In a heavy saucepan over a very low heat melt the butter with the chocolate, also add the rum. Stir until the mixture is smooth and remove from heat.
# Separate the eggs. In a bowl whisk together the yolks, 2 tbsp sugar, flour and salt. Stir in the chocolate mixture and the remaining 2 tbsp flaked coconut.
# In another bowl with an electric mixer beat the egg whites until stiff. Stir the whites gently but thoroughly into the mixture.
# Pour the mixture into a buttered 7-8-inch pan and bake at 180 degrees C for about 40-45 minutes. The top will puff up and crack, and it is ok.
# Let cool in the pan or on a rack. The cake will fall as it cools.
While the cake is in the oven, prepare the frosting:
- 4 tbsp (60 g) butter
- 1 tbsp light rum
- 0.25 tsp salt
- 10 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
# In a bowl with and electric mixer cream the butter, add rum, salt and confectioners’ sugar. Beat the frosting until it is light and fluffy.
# Cover cooled cake with frosting and top with toasted coconut flakes. I added some strawberries as well, I thought it made the cake a bit prettier and more like a birthday cake.
You can actually make the cake 1 day in advance and keep it covered and chilled until you frost it.
As I had some extra strawberries, I served the cake with some smashed strawberries – bit there is actually no need to serve it with a sauce because it is pretty moist already.
