Recipe: Dark Chocolate And Coconut Loaf

                           

Last month I dedicated myself to baking predominately Easter recipes and I lost my love of baking as well as posting because of it. So for my first non Easter recipe, I've taken it back to my simple yet easy 

loaf recipe with two of my favourite flavours combined. The combination of these two flavours give it a delicious kick and is essentially a cake version of my favourite chocolate bar, the Bounty Bar. 

Ingredients 

- 110g Caster Sugar 

- 110g Plain Flour 

- 110g Butter/Stork (softened) 

- 2 Eggs 

- 2 Tsp Cocoa Powder 

- 2 Tsp Baking Powder 

- 2-3 Tsp Coconut Extract 

Method 

1- Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Line a 2lb loaf tin with either a loaf case or parchment paper. 

2- Place the softened butter/stork and the caster sugar into a bowl. Beat together until they're pale and creamy looking. 

3- Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together. Whilst it may seem like a faff, it really helps with the texture of your cake and you aren't left with pockets of uncooked flour afterwards either. 

4- Add the dry ingredients to the mixture. 

5- Beat your eggs together and add them to the mixture. Mix together until everything is combined, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the ingredients. 

6- Then it's time to add the Coconut Extract. You can add as little or as much as you like. I started off by adding two teaspoons but felt it needed more when I tasted it, so I added a third so that the flavour really came through when it was baked. 

7- Once your happy with the taste, and everything is completely combined, pour it into your prepared tin. I usually pour half in and smooth it out before adding the rest to make sure it fills all four corners of the tin and is evenly distributed. 

8- Then pop it into the over for 25-30 minutes or until a skewers inserted in the centre comes out clean.

9- Once it's cooked, leave to cool in the tin for five minutes the transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Or if you can't wait, now would be a good time to cut a slice and enjoy warm with a cuppa. 

10- Once that first slice has been cut, keep it stored in an air tight container. It'll be good for two to three days but because it's a moist sponge, anything past three days is a no no as it'll start going stale and dry.