Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 40-50 minutes

Almost every Easter morning, I’m woken up by the rich smell of “Minnie’s Chocolate Cake,” a dessert passed down by a friend of my grandmother and now a traditional item on our display of Easter sweets. It’s a moist cake rich with chocolate flavor and a silky glaze of chocolate ganache. But even this common bakery staple has a few twists to make it special to Easter. Although it is appealing to taste, with its dark coloring of the rich chocolate, we brighten it up with a grass field of Easter eggs on top made out of shaved coconut and colorful mini eggs.

Before spring decorations were added, this cake was developed by my grandmother’s friend Minnie. Being huge fans of anything chocolate, my extended and immediate family have created the tradition of using this recipe for annual holidays, most commonly baking it for Easter. Over the years we’ve tweaked and twisted the recipe for preferred taste and look, while still staying true to its signature structure and flavor.

Although more complicated than the typical boxed cake, the ingredients and instructions of “Minnie’s Chocolate Cake” are very simple. Homemade cakes almost always come out better than store-bought mixes and are more fitting for Easter or any other holiday. But that’s not to say that this cake can only be made for special occasions — my mother and I will sometimes bake it on weeknights at 8:00 p.m. if we’re craving a chocolate dessert to satisfy our sweet tooth. But for a holiday like Easter, its rich chocolate taste, moist texture, beautiful appearance, and effortless assembly make it the perfect dessert.

Ingredients:

Minnie’s Chocolate Cake

- 1 3⁄4 cup of flour

- 2 cups of sugar

- 3⁄4 cup of cocoa powder

- 1 1⁄2 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1 1⁄2 teaspoon of baking powder

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 2 eggs beaten

- 1 cup of milk

- 1⁄2 cup of any oil (we usually use olive oil) - 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

- 1 cup of boiling water

Ganache

- 8 ounces of bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (if not in chip form, it should be finely chopped)

- 1 cup of heavy cream

Toppings and Assembling

- 1 cup of unsweetened shaved coconut

- Enough green food coloring to tint the coconut

(personal preference)

Steps:

Minnie’s Chocolate Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour an 8x11-inch square pan or a 13-inch Bundt cake pan.

Whisk together all dry ingredients in a bowl until fully combined.

Whisk together all wet ingredients except the boiling water in a separate bowl until fully combined.

Add the combined dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and beat well with a whisk until fully incorporated. Stir in the boiling water until fully incorporated. The batter should end up being very thin.

Pour the batter into the pan and place it in the oven to bake for at least 40 minutes (a Bundt should take almost 50 minutes). Before taking the cake out, check to see if it is baked through by sticking a toothpick through the center. If it comes out clean, it is done, but if it doesn’t, it may need a couple more minutes. Be sure not to overbake it.

When it is done, pull it out of the oven and let it cool for at least ten minutes inside the pan. Then let it sit outside of the pan until it is completely cool.

Ganache:

In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it gently simmers (do not let it boil!). After it begins to simmer, take it off the heat.

Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in a separate bowl and let it sit untouched for about two to three minutes. After waiting, whisk together the cream and chocolate until fully combined. It should be glossy and thick. Transfer the cake to a stand or a plate, then pour the ganache over the cake, coating it evenly.

Toppings and Assembling:

Mix the coconut with a few drops of green food coloring in a bowl until it looks like your desired shade of grass. Sprinkle the green coconut onto the cake until it almost completely covers it (again, personal preference).

Place the Cadbury mini eggs evenly over the coconut.

Enjoy!