coco(a)nut cake

My neighbor's ice dam. Ice, damn.

Happy S.A.D. Singles Awareness Day. Or, more like: Snowing Again?! Day. 
I can't wait to comb through the chocolate sales next week, after I dig myself out of the snow because surprise! it snowed another 15 inches this weekend. This is on top of the roughly 5 feet that has already fallen in the past month.

WHEN WILL THE MADNESS END?! 

The inspiration for this cake came from my insatiable dark chocolate cravings paired with the need to use up a can of coconut milk, left over from when I made cocomisu, tiramisu's dairy-free cousin.
I threw in some coffee powder and spices to add some flavor pizzazz and because snowy wintry weather makes me want to flood my senses with things like toasted cinnamon and ginger.

Smells heavenly while baking

For as long as I could remember, we had this opened, full bag of coffee powder sitting in our fridge. But, no one in my family drinks coffee...
So when I made this chocolate cake, I scooped out a spoonful of the coffee powder, tasted it to make sure it still tasted like coffee (it did) and happily added it to the batter because coffee enhances the dark and bitter flavors of chocolate.

When I told my father (a.k.a. my loyal and often sole taste tester) that I had added coffee powder into this cake, he looked confused. He asked, Where did you get the coffee powder? I told him that it was from the bag in the fridge. That's when he laughed, and said "That coffee powder is at least 15 years old!" Turns out, "that coffee powder" is not 15, but more than 20 years old. My parents received it as a gift when they first moved to the US. Which marks its to be: at least 22 years old.

So, uh, that's cool.

Maybe this special, "aged coffee powder" is the secret ingredient to making this cake taste extra ~magical~. Or old. Or weird? Nah. Coffee powder isn't like wine or cheese, and anyhow, rest assured that the cake passed the nomnomnom test. To think that, after sitting there for 22 long years, the coffee powder was finally able to serve a purpose.

chocolate coconut cake [dairy free, vegan]
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp coffee powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (or sub 1/3 coconut oil + 1/3 coconut milk)
1/2 cup dairy-free milk, warmed (I used almond)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Optional recommendations: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger powder

1. Preheat oven to 350, In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup coconut milk and vanilla extract.
2. In a separate bowl, heat up 1/2 cup dairy-free milk with the coffee powder in a microwave until the coffee powder dissolves. Add this to the coconut milk and vanilla mixture.
3. Add the granulated sugar and mix until dissolved.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.
5. Slowly and thoroughly incorporate the dry mixture into the wet mixture, either by hand or mixer, until there are no dry patches left.
6. Pour batter into greased pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.