Last Sunday, we went over to Noah's grandma's house to make dinner with her and go through some old family photos.
The first thing that she said to us was "you know, there are still so many things that I miss from the Midwest that you just can't find in California!" Now, keep in mind that she moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles almost 60 years ago!
She went on to tell us about these desserts that the Jewish deli down the street from her house in Cleveland always had in their display case, called coconut bars. I immediately asked "How do you make them, and do you have the ingredients?"
Turns out that the coconut bars are simply vanilla cake, covered in chocolate syrup, and dried coconut. We made them and had a fantastic time (albeit very messy time) covering the cake with the chocolate sauce and coconut!
This recipe makes the coconut bars gluten free and kosher for Passover!
Cake
1 1/2 Cups almond flour
4 Eggs, separated
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 Cup neutral oil (canola or vegetable works best)
Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
Whisk together the almond flour, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla extract, and oil. The batter will be pretty thick at this point!
Using the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, whip the egg whites until medium-stiff peaks form.
Fold the egg whites gently into the batter, making sure to not beat out all of the air that you whisked into the egg whites! Pour the batter into a 9x9inch square pan.
Bake for 30 minutes. While the cake is baking, make the chocolate syrup.
Chocolate Syrup
1/2 Cup cocoa powder
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup water
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
In a sauce pan, whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar, and water.
Place on the stove over a medium-high flame. Let the mixture come to a boil. When it reaches a boil, turn the flam down to low and simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Once the mixture begins to thicken, take it off of the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Place in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
Topping
Shredded coconut
When you are ready to assemble your coconut bars, cut the cooled cake into 2x1inch rectangles.
Dip the cake into the cooled chocolate syrup and then dip into the shredded coconut.
You can store these in the fridge for up to 2 days before serving. They also freeze well.
