Strawberry Coffin Cakes

Coffin Cakes a'la Desdemona, perhaps?

I actually made these a month ago, but I never seemed to find the time to post...

I purchased a coffin pan last fall, and I've been anxious to find an excuse to use it. It is intended to bake dessert cups, and actually came with a brownie recipe (that I didn't end up keeping...), but when I came across a recipe for a chocolate loaf I thought it sounded like the perfect treat.

And, because it's what I had on hand, I decided to serve these creepy treats with strawberries and whipped cream, which immediately brought Othello to mind.

Iago would have loved these.



Ultimately, I have to call these coffin cakes a mixed success. The Monsters and I enjoyed them, but I found the cake itself to be far more dry than I would have liked. I addressed this by pouring plenty of extra strawberry syrup over my own servings, and it worked like a charm.

Creepy and Kooky and certainly yummy.


Strawberry Coffin Cakes
from Two Peas & Their Pod

Ingredients
.75 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1.5 cups all purpose flour
.75 cup sugar
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
.75 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 egg yolk*
.75 cup buttermilk**
.5 vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces dark chocolate chips

Toppings
.5 cup chopped strawberries per serving
.5 cup sugar
whipped cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease your pan of choice.
2. Mix together the dry goods in one bowel, and whisk the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
3. Slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix just until the two are combined. This can be done with a mixer or by hand. Personally, I mix all of my batters with a regular flatware tablespoon, because it's easier to grab out of the drawer than it is to pull out either my hand mixer or my stand mixer. I understand that this is strange.
4. Mix in the chips or chunks by hand.
5. Pour into mold of choice and bake. For the coffins, I filled the molds about 3/4 full and checked them after 18 minutes. I stand by the toothpick trick of checking baked goods - if a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the confection comes out clean then it's done. Maria and Josh recommend one hour to one hour and ten minutes if baking this as a loaf and not cupcakes/dessert cups.
6. Let the cakes sit in the p an for about ten minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Top and enjoy.

While the cakes are in the oven I washed and chopped my strawberries and put them in a tupperware container with the sugar. To make sure the strawberries are juicy and syrupy I shake the container vigorously before putting it in the fridge to sit (my partner prefers juicy shortcakes, so this is largely to appease him). We toped the coffins as we ate them, and the strawberry mix stayed well in the fridge for several days. Likewise, the coffins kept on our glas cake plate until they mysteriously disappeared.

* I saved the egg white for breakfast the next day
** I never ever keep buttermilk. Instead, I put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in an 8oz. measuring cup, and then filled it to the line with milk. After sitting for five minutes it makes a great substitute, and you can just measure off what you need. I've been told that white vinegar works just as well.