Mounds Cake

Oh. My. Gosh. This cake was soooooo very decadent. Just pure chocolatey, coconutty, delicious decadence. I ran across the recipe for Mounds Layer Cake on Pinterest, and it looked like something my daughter would love, so I pinned it. It's not exactly a simple cake to make, but it's definitely worth the work. The cake had so much delicious chocolate flavor that it's difficult to describe. It was so moist and just... delicious. If you like Mounds bars and coconut, then you definitely need to try this cake the next time you have friends or family over for dinner.

Filling

14 oz bag sweetened, shredded coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Filling: In a large bowl, combine coconut and sweetened condensed milk. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Cake

2 cups sugar
1 cup Dutch Process Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour three 9-inch round pans. It's a good idea to use parchment paper in the bottom on your pans, but not required. If you only have two pans, just fill one pan a little more than the other. You will split the taller cake in half.

Cake: In the bowl of your mixer, combine sugar, cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

Add eggs, oil, and buttermilk and beat on medium speed for two minutes.

 

Scrape sides of bowl and stir in boiling water. Divide batter into cake pans (batter will be thin) and bake for 30 minutes or until tops spring back until lightly touched. Allow cakes to cool in pans for about 5 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

Ganache

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup (you can use honey if you are opposed to corn syrup)

Ganache: While cake bakes, in a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and heavy cream. Microwave for about 2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to stir until smooth. 

Stir in corn syrup and refrigerate until slightly cooled and thickened.

Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, slightly softened
1/3 cup cream of coconut (I buy this in a squeeze bottle with the drink mixers)
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 cups powdered sugar

Frosting: While cake bakes, in the bowl of your mixer, beat butter, cream of coconut, and heavy cream on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer set on low, slowly add powdered sugar. Once the powdered sugar is just barely mixed in, increase speed to high and beat for one minute until fluffy.

Spread coconut filling between 3 layers. 

Frost with coconut frosting.

Spoon ganache on top to the very edges of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.

 

Garnish with a scoop of coconut filling if desired. Let ganache set, and then prepare for a bite of heaven.