I’m so happy to report that this recipe was a hit at our house, and needs to be added to your “must-make” list!
Inspired by the candy bar, this fabulous homemade Almond Joy cake consists of decadent chocolate cake layers, an amazing coconut filling, rich ganache, and a smattering of almond slices!
Now, let’s get down to the business of this deliciousness…
The chocolate cake that we used in this recipe is our forever-favorite homemade Classic Chocolate Cake! It’s rich, ultra moist, and making any other scratch chocolate recipe for our Almond Joy Cake would just feel wrong! ;0)
(However, if you’re looking for a doctored chocolate cake mix recipe, we LOVE this one!: Chocolate Sour Cream Doctored Cake Mix.)
The next most important player in this Almond Joy Cake is the Coconut Filling! Some may even say it’s the most important….finding the perfect coconut filling can be tricky! But we’ve found it.
It is the perfect consistency for spreading on nice and thick, and the flavor is out of this world! It tastes just like the coconut filling of an Almond Joy candy bar or Mounds bar. Yum!
We added another layer of chocolate to this recipe with a Simple Spreadable Chocolate Ganache! This is a 2:1 ratio of chocolate to cream and makes a rich, surprisingly easy filling and frosting.
Ganache may sound fancy, but if you’ve never made it, don’t be intimidated. With just two ingredients, it’s just about the easiest frosting ever (and SO good).
It can be used as is, or you can whip it to create a smoother, slightly lighter consistency. We usually chill our ganache for just a few minutes before whipping.
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE CHOCOLATE CAKE (OUR SCRATCH CLASSIC CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE)
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 2 3/4 cup (322g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (82g) unsweetened cocoa (lightly spoon into cup then sift)
- 2 teaspoons ((10g) baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon (2g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2g) salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) (226g) unsalted butter, softened (do not soften in microwave) I cut the butter into 1 inch pieces onto waxed paper leaving on the countertop for 8 to 10 minutes it will still be quite cool when adding to the dry ingredients. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a few minutes
- 1/4 cup (54g) vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (220g) milk
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (220g) hot coffee, it can be instant or brewed
FOR THE COCONUT FILLING
- 1/2 cup (121g) milk
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 2 1/2 cups (220g) sweetened coconut ( I used Bakers Flake Coconut)
- 1/2 bag (144g) mini marshmallows or 24 large (155g) marshmallows (the large one can be cut into small pieces for easier melting)
- 1 teaspoon (4g) coconut extract
FOR THE GANACHE
- 650 grams chocolate, chopped into small pieces (We used Trader Joe's Pound Plus Dark Chocolate which is 54% cocoa)
- 325 grams ( 1 1/2 cup) heavy cream
DIRECTIONS
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASSIC CHOCOLATE CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease and flour THREE 8 inch cake pans
- In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk for 1 minute to blend.
- Add softened butter a few pieces at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Mix until the dry ingredients look like coarse sand and the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk , oil and vanilla until blended.
- Method is important when using the Reverse Creaming Method. With the mixer on low speed, SLOWLY add approximately 1/2 of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 1 1/2 minutes at medium speed. Don't mix above medium speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each pour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl.
- Slowly add the cup of hot coffee and mix another 30 seconds until blended. The batter will be very runny. Don't worry!
- Pour into 3 prepared 8" pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes 10 minutes on a rack and then turn out of the pans.
*Yields approx 9 cups of batter.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE COCONUT FILLING
- In a saucepan over medium heat add the milk, sugar and marshmallows.
- Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the marshmallows are melted. It is a slow process because you don't want the milk to boil. Use the back of the spoon to press the marshmallow to the side of the pan while stirring to speed things along.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the coconut and coconut extract.
- Allow to cool completely before spreading between the layers. It can be made in advance and refrigerated.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE
- Put the chocolate into a heat proof bowl. Heat the cream until it just begins to boil, remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.
- Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes before stirring. Stir until all the chocolate pieces have melted. You could also use an immersion blender or hand mixer to finish blending, making sure that all the chocolate pieces have melted.
- Allow the ganache to completely cool to room temperature. When you take out a spoon full and it holds its shape it is ready to spread on the cake.
- At this point you could also whip the ganache, for a lighter consistency ganache. Using a hand mixer or the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, begin on low speed gradually increasing to medium speed, whip the ganache approximately 1-2 minutes or until it has lightened in color and is smooth.
ASSEMBLY OF THE CAKE
- When assembling our three layer chocolate cake, we spread the first and second layers with a thin layer of chocolate ganache followed by a layer of our coconut filling.
- After placing the third layer, we frosted the cake in chocolate ganache and topped off the cake with coconut filling followed by a generous mound of flaked coconut.
- We pressed sliced almonds here and there around the sides of the cake towards the bottom.