CHOCOLATE-DATE-COCONUT CAKE

I'm going to "date" myself with this next sentence, but that's okay. Remember when Woman's Day magazine had the insert in their magazine back in the 70s with recipes? It was called The Collector's Cookbook and was on light-weight paper sack-like paper. It was several pages and they were about half the size of the regular pages in the magazine. They intended for the reader to tear the pages out of the magazine and even had drawn holes to put it in a 3-ring binder.

Well, inside my Betty Crocker cookbook, I have had one of those inserts since March, 1976.  This particular one was titled Chocolate. Every recipe in the insert contained chocolate. Now you understand why I have hung onto it for so long. The edges are ripped and torn because of the size of the pages compared to my BC cookbook. On the cover, it says, "The Aztecs drank it, the conquistadors plundered it, the first North American colonists imported it, then opened their very own factory in 1765. Chocolate - the flavor that's a perpetual fad. Whether it's pudding, pie, cake, cookie, brownie, or sauce, everything in this month's cookbook is a paean to chocolate."

Inside the "cover", it starts with chocolate tips. Only one of them is a new idea to me. "A good way to melt chocolate pieces is to heat a heavy saucepan until very hot; remove from heat; add chocolate pieces and stir until melted." Never thought of that before.

The second recipe in the cookbook was called Chocolate-Date-Coconut Cake. I have made a chocolate cake before that contained dates. They really make a cake moist! I mean - Super Moist! I also liked that it only contained 1 cup of sugar. I know I used to make cakes that contained a lot of sugar, but not any more. Because this one has the dates, I decided I could probably try it with 7/8 cup of sugar. (Just measure out 1 cup and then remove 6 teaspoons from it.) Six teaspoons is 1 gram of sugar and every gram you can omit, is good. Trust me, it doesn't reduce the sweet taste of the cake. I also used organic unsweetened coconut for the topping. 

As I write this the night before I take it in to Hillcrest Thrift Shop to share it with the volunteers, I don't know for sure how they will react. BUT I think I know them well enough to know they are going to L.O.V.E. it.

CHOCOLATE-DATE-COCONUT CAKE

1         cup chopped dates
1         cup hot water (I did heat my water to almost boiling.)
1-3/4 cups flour
3        tablespoons cocoa
1         teaspoon baking soda
1         cup butter, softened (I just had mine at room temperature.)
1         cup sugar (Okay to remove 6 teaspoons of the sugar.)
2        teaspoons vanilla
2        eggs
1         package (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 cup 60% cacao chips.) divided into two  separate 1/2 cup measurements 
1/2     cup flaked coconut (I used organic unsweetened flaked coconut.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (or spray with nonsticking cooking spray that contains flour) a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan.

(I gathered all of the ingredients together before I started mixing them up.I don't often do this, but it surely does make it easier to follow the recipe.)

Cover dates with water in a small bowl; set aside. (This picture shows what the mixture looked like by the time I was ready to add it to the batter.)

Stir together flour, cocoa, and baking soda; set aside. (I sifted the three ingredients twice to blend them together.)

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. (Turn the speed up on the electric mixer and don't cheat on the time.

You want the mixture to be light and fluffy.)

Beat in eggs, one at a time until well blended.

(You will need to scrape the sides of the bowl often.)

Stir in flour mixture alternately with the reserved dates and water until well blended. (I started with the flour and ended with the flour. I add about 1/3 of the flour, then half of the liquid, another 1/3 of the flour, then the rest of the liquid, and then add the last of the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl as you do this.)

Stir in 1/2 cup of the chips.

Pour the batter in the prepared pan and smooth out evenly.

Sprinkle the coconut on top of the batter and

then the remaining 1/2 cup of the chips. (I did kinda "place" the chips so they would be spread out on the cake.)

Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool on rack.

Cut in squares to serve.

Cover cake with airtight top to keep it moist.

I took a picture of the front page of the "cookbook" insert just to remind you what they looked like.