Chocolate Flake Coconut Cake (Steve Allen Cake)
rec.food.recipes/M. Russell (2000)

My mother got this recipe from a magazine article about favorite desserts of various famous people. This was Steve Allen's favorite cake and she always called it "Steve Allen Cake". It is a great cake and always gets rave reviews from guests.

1 recipe Creamy Custard Filling (see below)
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. almond extract
1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
1 cup minus 2 Tbsp. milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces, chopped fine
2 egg whites
1 cup flaked coconut (can be unsweetened variety)
1 cup heavy cream

Creamy Custard Filling
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 egg
2/3 cup milk, scalded
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream, whipped

Early in the day, make, cool, and refrigerate custard filling.

CREAMY CUSTARD FILLING instructions:
In top of double boiler, mix sugar, flour, salt. Slightly beat egg, gradually add scalded milk, then slowly stir into sugar mixture. Cook over boiling water for 8 minutes stirring constantly. Mixture may become very thick and even lumpy, but this is normal so don't worry. Cool, stirring occasionally. Add almond and vanilla extracts. Fold in whipped heavy cream. Refrigerate until needed.

Grease and flour two 8-inch layer cake pans. Preheat oven to 180 C
(350 F).

Sift flour with baking powder three times.

In a large bowl, at medium speed, mix butter, salt and almond extract until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks and blend well.

With mixer at low speed, add flour mixture alternately with the milk, beating after each addition just until well blended. Then stir in chocolate.

Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the batter. Turn batter into prepared pans; sprinkle each pan of batter with 1/2 cup coconut.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until cakes spring back when lightly touched with finger and a tester comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pans, turn out onto racks to finish cooling.

On a cake plate, arrange layers with bottoms together and Creamy Custard Filling in between. Generously frost side of cake with whipped cream. Refrigerate until served.

Notes:

It's easier to chop the chocolate chips if you chill them first. My mother always put them in the freezer and then would chop them by hand with a large knife. I still chill the chips first, but I use the food processor.

For a three-layer cake, double all ingredients in custard filling except use only one egg. Make one set, then a second set of cake layers (fourth cake layer can be split, filled with some whipped cream and eaten separately). Increase heavy cream for frosting to 1 1/2 cups.