Coconut. Chocolate. Drizzle. Those three words of sweet promise grabbed you by the tastebuds and pulled you in – right? They did for me as I’ve had my eye on this recipe culled from Bon Appetit’s January ’10 issue since the end of December and I’m not interested in protracting the temptation one moment longer.

A neighborhood ladies brunch today and I know exactly what I’m bringing. I took this buttery single-cake recipe – a batter first enriched with thick coconut milk, then further embellished with fragrant orange zest and studly chunks of dark bittersweet chocolate – and baked it into twelve individual treats, in a muffin tin because it was a first-time effort and wanted to have at least a bite to be assured of the cake’s promised deliciousness. This way I was able to sample the moist cake – finished with crispy toasted shreds of coconut and the promised sweet “drizzle”- without anyone being the wiser. One was shared with my daughter, who was instantly enamored with the golden beauty and confidently deemed the cake  brunch, or  anytime- worthy. To my delight, despite the sugary moniker, the finished result does not fall into the too sweet category.

Ladies, I hope the coffee is brewing because I’ll be over with Coconut Cakes with Chocolate Chunks and Coconut Drizzle in just a short while – I hope no one notices there will only be eleven – shhh.

Recipe for one 9″ Coconut Cake with Chocolate Chunks and Coconut Drizzle, HERE

To adapt this recipe to yield 12 individual cakes, distribute cake batter evenly between the cups of a well-buttered non-stick 12 portioned muffin pan. Evenly distribute shredded coconut over tops. Reduce baking time to 25-30 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the middle of a center cake comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool on rack, turn out and drizzle with glaze.