Hi, foodies in the Hive!

I hope everyone is healthy and doing great :)

This bundt cake was for my husband's birthday breakfast. On a day like today, I'm always pleased to make a chocolate cake for him just the way he likes it: a cake with intense cocoa flavor and soft texture. Oh, it's always chocolate; this he'd never change. Then I try to vary the recipe every year. There's only one requirement she appreciates: never soak the cake. So, as always, I prepared it with lots of cocoa fudge; only this time I incorporated coconut milk in the cocoa fudge and in the cake batter, and we were delighted with the result. Now I'll share this year's recipe with you dear Hivers :)

With its soft, sponge-like texture and nutty flavor thanks to the cocoa and coconut milk mixture, this is an ideal cake for the breakfast table. You will enjoy it with your morning coffee.

And if you love chocolate like we do, then you'll love seeing it on your table as you get ready to start your day, knowing there will be more of it to come later when you get back home.

You may want to read on to learn how to make this cake. Maybe you've already tried this cocoa and coconut milk mixture. If so, I'd love to hear about it :)

For a cake of 8-10 servings, I used:

For the cake:

250 grams of leavening flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/4 cup of coconut milk (the creamier the better)
1/4 teaspoon of soda
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
250 grams of sugar
1/2 cup of eggs
125 grams of salted margarine
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg

For the fudge:

1/3 cup of cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 cup of coconut milk (the creamier, the better)
1/2 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of egg yolks
100 ml sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

I think everyone has their own favorite brands. I like to use Mavesa margarine, for example, because the cakes are soft and light instead of greasy and heavy. I also love the taste of Nestlé products because their pleasant flavor always stands out and their aftertaste is delicious; I love their Savoy cocoa powder for desserts...I always buy Olympia's vanilla essence and baking soda. Iberia has good spices... I believe that good products contribute a lot to a satisfactory result, so it's well worth making an effort to buy what suits us in the kitchen.

To achieve an intense and provocative color, mix the sugar and margarine with the help of a mixer and then add the cocoa powder and olive oil.

Then add the eggs. This time the eggs were small and I had to use 3 and a half eggs to fill half a cup. Mix well with the mixer.

I like to use a serrated knife to scrape the nutmeg.

Add the baking soda and pour the vinegar on top of it so it makes air. Then you can add the flour. Sift the leavening flour and add it in two parts, as the mixture will become thick.

With the help of a paddle, mix by hand, making enveloping movements, so that the mixture takes air.

Finally, add the creamy coconut milk. If you like, you can see how I prepare it here.

The result is a creamy and light batter.

Preheat oven to 300°F, with heat up and down. Pour the batter into the bundt pan--I have the simplest type, plain, but you can use this batter in any pan with any design and it won't stick.

Let it bake for 40 minutes. And unmold at your leisure. It won't stick.

While the cake is cooling, you can prepare the fudge.

This is also a very simple process. In the same pot where the fudge will be cooked, and before taking it to the fire, mix the sugar, cocoa, and egg yolks with a mixer until the sugar dissolves; then add the coconut milk and the sweetened condensed milk. Mix and bring to the fire.

Cook this mixture, stirring constantly over medium to low heat, until it thickens.

You'll see that the fudge is a little lumpy:

Cut the cake lengthwise and fill it with half of the fudge while it's still hot. This will help it integrate better by moisturizing the surface.

To cover the bundt cake, we will need the fudge to be firmer and neater; to do this, wait until it cools well and beat it vigorously with a mixer. Then you can decorate.

This is super simple to do. You can lift the cake in your hands and decorate freely without making a mess beyond getting a little chocolate on your hands.

Since this bundt cake has a nutty flavor, I decided it'd be ideal to decorate it with some toasted flaked almonds; I also added 5 tiny vanilla and chocolate chip cookies that I'd made along the process.