Samoa Bundt Cake

I got this recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen, you can find the original recipe HERE. This cake was delicious but it was tough to make it look good! One of my favorite things about cooking & baking is making the food look as good as it tastes... well, on that note, this cake was frustrating!! I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you have that might improve this cake! Regardless of its appearance, this cake was spectacular to eat! It was the perfect blend of chocolate & caramel with little hints of coconut!



I know that Samoa cookies are a kind of girl scout cookie sold in the US but they don't exist in Canada... so I have never eaten one! If this cake is any indication of how good the cookies are, I am excitedly awaiting the day that I can try a Samoa girl scout cookie! Until then, I might give this recipe a try :)

Ok! On to the cake... Start by melting 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips either on the stove top or in the microwave. I melted my chocolate chips by microwaving them in a glass dish for 25 seconds at a time and stirring between each session in the microwave - I repeated this until the chocolate was smooth. Once the chocolate is melted, set it aside while you put some other ingredients together.

In a large mixing bowl (I learned this the hard way - I used a medium sized mixing bowl and you will see my ingredients get very close to the edge of the bowl as I add more and more ingredients!) beat 1/2 cup of butter and 2 cups of brown sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time.

Once the eggs are incorporated, beat in the melted chocolate chips. In a separate mixing bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Alternate between adding some of the flour mixture and some sour cream - you will need to add 1 cup of sour cream in total. Beating until just combined after each addition.

Stir in 1 cup of hot water (not boiling water - just hot) and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Prepare a bundt cake pan by spraying it with cooking spray of by buttering it and lightly flouring it. once the pan is prepared pour the batter into the pan.

Bake the cake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and allow the cake to sit for 5-10 minutes before flipping the pan to remove the cake.

For the frosting, beat together 3/4 cup of softened butter, 1/4 cup of caramel sauce (jarred or homemade), 3 cups of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of cream or milk. Wait until the cake is completely cool before frosting it - I frosted it using a knife. This is where my cake's appearance began to fall apart... I have never used a frosting on a bundt cake before - I've only ever used a glaze. Well, the hole in the middle of my bundt cake became of swimming pool of frosting! I was continuously spooning frosting out of the center of my cake!

Once the cake is frosted, sprinkle on some shredded coconut. The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of coconut - that is a whole lot of coconut!! I only ended up using about 3/4 cup on the cake.

Oh boy! After I got the frosting on, it was a downhill battle! When I drizzled the chocolate & caramel sauce on it would pick up pieces of coconut and roll down the cake getting bigger and bigger and bigger like a snowball! I eventually got a bit of a chocolate & caramel drizzle on there but it was a struggle!! I just used Hot Fudge Sauce and caramel sauce to drizzle on the cake.

So that's it! My not-so-pretty-but-delicious Samoa Bundt cake - let me know if you have any ideas that would make this cake look a little more presentable!

SAMOA BUNDT CAKE

ingredients

for the cake...

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet choclate chips, melted

1/2 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

1 cup hot water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the frosting...

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup caramel sauce (jarred or homemade)

3 cups icing sugar

1 tablespoon milk or cream

toppings...

3/4 cup of shredded coconut

hot fudge sauce

caramel sauce

directions

1. Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips on the stove top or the microwave. Set the chocolate aside once it has been melted.

2. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Once the butter and sugar are well combined beat the eggs in one at a time. Beat in the melted chocolate until well incorporated.

3. In a separate mixing bowl, stir flour, baking soda and salt together. Prepare 1 cup of sour cream. Alternate between adding a little of the flour mixture and a little of the sour cream to the chocolate/butter/sugar/egg mixture beating until just combined after each addition.

4. Beat in the hot water and vanilla extract.

5. Prepare a Bundt cake pan by spraying it with cooking spray or buttering it and lightly flouring it. Once the pan is prepared, pour in the cake batter. 

6. Bake the cake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit - check to make sure the cake is cooked with a cake tester or a butter knife. Let the cake sit for 5-10 minutes before flipping the pan over to get the cake out.

7. For the frosting, beat together softened butter, caramel sauce, icing sugar and milk/cream in a medium sized mixing bowl. Wait for the cake to cool completely before spreading the icing on.

8. Once the icing is on, sprinkle on the shredded coconut and drizzle on some chocolate sauce and caramel sauce.

Enjoy!