TGIF! And it’s time for my TGIF recipe interpretation.

This recipe from “A meandering mango” inspired me for my “Chocolate cake with rum and coconut”

These cakes chocolate espresso molten cakes look amazing and the recipe is very simple.

There’s only one problem that bothered me: two cakes that come out of this recipe won’t even reach the dinner table, as they will be eaten by my family members betwen the oven and table transportation. So I invented a “Chocolate cake with rum and coconut” , making some changes to ” A meandering mango’s recipe” and experimenting a little.

The result that came out of my experiment was amazing, but, it all started of  “A meandering mango’s” inspiring recipe and mouthwatering pictures.

I’m still planning to cook this recipe without any experiments (when there are “chocolate predators” at home … pssst), but as of right now, I’m very happy with the result and recommend you to try both recipes.

Btw, you should check out the other recipes of “A meandering mango”, there are a lot of great ideas, chocolate cheesecake brownies are on my list to do, but,… it’s another story.

Enjoy!

My cake is a combination of recipes, ideas and vision of a great chocolate cake. (to my mind)

I love that this cake is moist inside, combines sweetness and bitterness of dark chocolate and I love that it’s easy to cook.

1/2 cup of chocolate chips

½ cup of instant espresso

1 ¼  stick of butter

1 cup of white sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

2 ¾ all-purpose flour (sifted)

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

4 eggs

Step 1. Set a pot ¾ full of water. Put a metal bowl on top of it and as the water starts to boil in a pot add to your bowl the butter, cut in slices. As the butter is starting to melt, add the chocolate chips and then, as the chocolate chips are starting to melt, add the instant espresso to the bowl. Stir the mixture occasionally and don’t let it burn. Turn the gas to a minimum and let the mixture just be there for 4-5 minutes.

Step 2.In a separate bowl mix:  flour (sifted), sugar, baking powder, baking soda (vanilla extract if it’s dry, if not you’ll add it later when we mix chocolate and flour) .

Step  3. Turn the gas off, take the bowl with chocolate-espresso-butter mixture and mix it with your flour mixture.

Step 4. When the chocolate and flour mixtures are very well mixed and cooled off a little bit, beat in 4 eggs, one by one. You have to stir the batter fast because the egg whites may  get cooked (the mixture may still be warm because of the heated chocolate).

Preheat the oven at 375 F, put same size three baking dishes (or two if you don’t have three) in the oven for 2 minutes just before pouring the batter in it. ( I used two dishes)

Take the dishes out of the oven carefully, grease them with butter, pour the batter evenly in all three (two) dishes and bake for 35 minutes (or until cooked). Test with a toothpick, it should be inserted into the center of the cake and come out clean. Allow to cool.

Crème:

For the crème I used vanilla pudding. But before covering the cake with it, I added the secret ingredient to my cake (take the kids off the screen). I added Malibu rum to it , just sprinkled  each layer of the cake with 2-3 tablespoons,(ok 3-4 tablespoons:-) of rum. Then I covered each layer with vanilla pudding and decorated the top of the cake with coconut shred.

Let the cake stand for a night, although mine didn’t get a chance to wait that long, we tested it in 15 minutes after it was done…

Enjoy!

And, omit the Malibu rum step if you are cooking it for kids  

This chocolate chip cookies recipe was borrowed from Allrecipes.com website.

I have changed the ingredients list a little bit, but the best part of this recipe is that it’s very fast, very simple and may be cooked with your eyes closed. You kids will <3 these cookies, they are” crispy on the edges and chewy inside”, as the author Dora said in her description.

***Tip from Helen*** You can make these cookies with oatmeal and they will be fabulous! Just substitute chocolate chips with oatmeal. ***Tip from Helen***

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Servings: 24 cookies (or more depending on the size you like)

Ingredients:

1 2/3 sticks of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of white sugar (optional, but not a must they will be very sweet)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of baking soda

2 tablespoons of hot water

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 (2) cups of chocolate chips

1 cup of coconut shred (optional)

2 eggs

2 ½ cups of flour (you can put 3 and your cookies will be more crispy.)

Take the butter out of the fridge, let it become soft. Cut the butter in small pieces and mix it with sugar.  Add vanilla extract and beat in eggs, one after another. Mix baking soda and hot water in a cup and pour into the egg-sugar-butter mixture. Mix very well, add baking powder and flour, stir well, then add coconut shred and chocolate chips (or oatmeal).

Preheat the stove at 350F. Form the cookies with a tablespoon and fingers. (Remember that they will grow 2-3 sizes larger, so leave enough space between your cookies). Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

 ***Tip from Helen*** If you don’t want your cookies to be very-very sweet add 1 cup of sugar. If you want your cookies to be more soft add less flour and bake them for 20 minutes until light golden brown.*** Tip from Helen***

Enjoy!