Here’s a recipe for The Goodyear House’s Chocolate Coconut Snack Cake. Save us some?

Few things scream dessert like a moist, rich chocolate cake. It’s the cake of celebrations, and the cake you reach to for familiar comfort — which we need now more than ever. And pastry chef Becca Rankin of The Goodyear House is here to help us out.

Rankin is sharing a recipe for the Charlotte restaurant’s Chocolate Coconut Snack Cake. The cozy and welcoming NoDa space is closed right now because of the coronavirus, but plans are in the works to reopen May 2 with a celebratory “Social Distancing Pig Picking To-Go Go” menu, with a modified restaurant menu to choose from, as well. There will also be family meals such as Shipley Farms Beef Meatloaf and a Slow-Roasted Herbed 8 Piece Chicken.

We’ve also got more exciting details coming from The Goodyear House later this week, so stay tuned ...

For now, though, we can have cake. Executive Chef Chris Coleman said: “It’s ridiculously good.” And you can take that to the bank — the Food Network “Chopped” champion knows his stuff.

“I’ve always loved the idea of a snack cake. It’s a very unfussy dessert, which is how I love them to be — fun and approachable,” Rankin said. “I got the idea for doing a snack cake because I wanted to create something that reminded me of being a kid and going into the kitchen throughout the day to sneak little slivers from a sheet cake, pan of brownies, etc.”

Cake ingredients

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

5/8 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup warm water

1 cup sweetened, toasted coconut

Glaze ingredients

12 oz. sweetened condensed milk

14 oz. coconut milk

1/4 tsp. salt

Chocolate ganache ingredients

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate

6 oz. heavy cream

dash of almond extract

Method of preparation

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Pour into dry ingredients and mix well, then fold in toasted coconut. Pour into a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

While the cake bakes, whisk together the condensed milk, coconut milk and salt.

When the cake is done, let it cool for 10 minutes, the poke many holes in cake with fork, and pour over the glaze mixture. Let it cool completely.

For the ganache, heat cream in saucepan until it comes to a boil. Pour over the chocolate in a bowl, let it sit one minute and then stir to combine. Add almond extract. Let it cool for a few minutes, then spread over the cake.

Serve with whipped coconut cream (The chef typically does a 1:4 ratio of coconut cream to heavy cream, with no sugar added.) Alternatively, you could serve with just plain whipped cream.

‘I adore anything that makes people feel nostalgic’

Rankin shared a little backstory on how the team landed on this Chocolate Coconut Snack Cake.

“I originally put a salted caramel popcorn snack cake with buttermilk anglaise on the menu, but we realized pretty quickly we needed to offer a chocolate dessert. I thought that the snack cake would be a great staple dessert to rotate flavors through the seasons. Chris approached me one day and told me about this chocolate cake that his mom used to make and how she would soak it in coconut milk after it came out of the oven. I adore anything that makes people feel nostalgic, so I loved the idea of trying to recreate that dessert.”

On The Goodyear House menu, it’s topped with an almond cacao nib brittle “for a little crunch,” Rankin said. But she adjusted the recipe a bit to make a more home friendly version for us.

Pro tip from the chef: “This cake ages extremely well. In fact, it’s actually tastier on day 3 or 4, after the cake has had ample time to absorb the condensed coconut milk glaze.” (So let that be your incentive not to gobble it up all at once.)

We’re dreaming of the day that it’s safe to lift the COVID-19 restrictions keeping Charlotte’s dining rooms closed, and the restaurant can fully reopen to serve goopy burgers and smoked cashew mac to all. But until then, at least we can have a taste of The Goodyear House at home.

This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 12:33 PM.