2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
- Preheat oven to 350* F. Grease three 8-9" round pans and dust lightly with flour. The original recipe says you can also make a 9x13 single-layer cake if you prefer.
- In a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended.
- Mix in the milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract using medium speed until it's well blended. Turn your mixer down to low and add in the boiling water slowly. Once all ingredients are in, mix on high for 60-seconds.
- Pour your cake batter into your pans. Try to be as even as possible as you don't want one layer to be too much thicker or thinner than the others.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes. It's done when a toothpick comes out clean after poking it in the center. Mine was done at 30 minutes.
- Put your pans on a cooling rack for about ten minutes, and then flip them over to get them out of the pan. Allow them to cool completely.
While your cake is cooling, make the frosting!
2 cups evaporated milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups granulated sugar
6 egg yolks, beaten with 2 teaspoons of water
1 cup (two sticks) of butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chopped pecans
2 cups flaked coconut
- Combine the evaporated milk and cornstarch in a large saucepan. When thoroughly mixed, add in sugar, egg yolks, butter, and vanilla extract. Cook at low/medium until a slow boil is reached.
- Stir constantly for about 12 minutes until it starts to thicken up. Mine didn't seem to really thicken up until the last minute or so.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the pecans and coconut.
- Let it sit for one hour to allow it to thicken up a bit. Frost the cooled cakes.
Added note - I did three 8" round layers, and then added more chopped pecans tossed on top of and on the sides of the cake, and another handful of coconut sprinkled on the top. I ended up with a cereal bowl full of extra frosting, but I suspect some of that is because I was a little skimpy on the frosting between the first two layers for fear I wouldn't have enough. You will have enough - go ahead and smear it on.
The original recipe can be found HERE.