Girl Scout cookie orders will be delivered in just a few short weeks. But if you're like me and you dream of Samoas -- the luscious combination of caramel, coconut and chocolate -- year-round, the following recipe is worth clipping and saving for those long months when the girls' cookies aren't available.
I found the original recipe at the blog chef-in-training.com, where its creators called it Samoa Sheet Cake. But if you consider the Samoa cookie (called Caramel Delights in other parts of the country) is a shortbread cookie topped with caramel, coconut and chocolate, the name isn't entirely fitting. Samoa Brownie Cake is a more accurate name.
Regardless of what you call it, the resulting dessert is delicious: a rich chocolate cake base topped with a caramel-flavored glaze that is then covered with shredded coconut and drizzled with melted chocolate and caramel.
I made it for a potluck at work last week and it received rave reviews.
I did make some minor changes to the recipe, as well as change its name. The ingredients list is long and there are several steps, but the cake comes together quite quickly -- in about an hour from start to finish.
Homemade caramel, rather than the melted candies called for here, would take this cake over the top.
Samoa Brownie Cake
1 (5-ounce) package unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter, divided use
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided use
6 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons caramel-flavored ice cream topping such as Smucker's Salted Caramel
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
25 soft caramel candies, unwrapped
2 tablespoons evaporated milk
1/2 (7-ounce) tub Baker's Dipping Chocolate OR 3 1/2 ounces melting chocolate wafers
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Arrange the unsweetened coconut over foil. Bake 5 minutes or until lightly golden brown, stirring after 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer toasted coconut to a bowl and add the sweetened coconut and mix well; set aside.
Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees. Line an 18-by-13-by-1-inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper or generously grease with butter or shortening.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and sugar; set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the butter, the shortening, cocoa powder and the water over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until butter and shortening melt and mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
Stir melted butter-cocoa mixture into flour-sugar mixture and mix to combine. Mixing well between each addition, add the buttermilk, baking soda, eggs and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla. Pour batter into the prepared jellyroll pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Meanwhile, in a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the remaining 1/2 cup butter with the 6 tablespoons of milk, heating in 30-second increments. Stir the caramel sauce into the hot milk mixture, stirring until caramel sauce is completely melted, then add the confectioners' sugar and remaining vanilla.
Using a fork or skewer, poke holes all over the hot cake. Pour the frosting evenly over the hot cake. Immediately sprinkle the shredded coconut over the frosting. Gently press it to adhere to the cake.
In a separate microwave-safe bowl, melt the caramel candies with the evaporated milk, cooking in 30-second increments, stirring between each increment, until caramel is completely melted and smooth. Drizzle hot caramel over coconut.
Melt the chocolate according to package instructions. Drizzle melted chocolate over caramel. Allow caramel and chocolate to completely set before cutting.
Makes about 40 (2-inch) servings.
Nutrition information: Each serving contains approximately 220 calories, 2 g protein, 11 g fat, 30 g carbohydrate (23 g sugar), 25 mg cholesterol, 84 mg sodium and 1 g fiber.
Food on 02/04/2015