Melt and Mix Chocolate Coconut Cake

I've been bored with my recipe book collection for a while now so I picked up a few new ones on Friday. Donna Hay recipe books dominate my recipe cupboard and her 'Chocolate' book is my new favourite. Baby Baker loves it too, I know this because she started crying 'chocolate, chocolate' and snatched it out of my hands and wouldn't give it to the check-out-boy or me until I swapped it for a choc-chip hot cross bun.
Where was I... oh so, new recipe book, I had to try it out but I wanted something simple, not too fancy and fairly easy to through together.
Melt and Mix Chocolate Coconut Cake, I'm talking about you.
This cake is one of those cakes you can make anytime, there are no unusual ingredients, and it’s all basic stuff that is always in my pantry. I don't know about anyone else but there are some things I make sure I never run out off. I mean if there's a disaster like an earth quake, the shops might all close, and then I couldn't bake! OMG!
So there are things I always stock; flour, baking soda and powder, corn flour, icing sugar, brown sugar, eggs, coconut, cocoa, and chocolate.
Okay so maybe I'm a little obsessive, but I have little kids and I can't just trip down to Coles for stuff all the time (especially nap times - my favourite baking time) so I like to have all the necessities covered.
So this cake is one that you could just throw together from the pantry, as are a lot of the recipes in the Chocolate book, though quite a few ask for chocolate, specific kinds and well, chocolate just doesn't last long enough for me to keep much in the cupboard.
Melt and mix means exactly what it seems, you put all the ingredients in a large bowl, melt the butter then mix it all together.
The cake itself really surprised me, when I cut it I thought it would be quite dense, but when I put it in my mouth the first thing that I noticed was how light and soft and moist it was. It was not dense or sticky at all. The coconut is a strong flavour but it doesn't over power the chocolate, rather sits next to it as an equal. Coconut all grown up and come into its own power. The two flavours mixed together make a stunning combination.
Maybe I'm talking this cake up too much, but really I was deeply impressed with this humble looking chocolate cake, its texture was surprising and I think really makes the cake as wonderful as I think it is. If it were dense and heavy, the flavour would be ruined.
The recipe recommends a chocolate glaze but I think it's too much, the fresh cake does not need any dressing, perhaps a little icing sugar sifted over for decoration when serving, the next day (if it survives that long just a little fresh or wiped cream to brighten it up.

Melt and Mix Chocolate Cake

250g butter, melted

3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

12/3 cup caster sugar

4 eggs

11/2 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour into a 20cm square cake tin that has been greased and lined with baking paper. Bake for 1 hour or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool in tin for 10 minutes then turn onto a wire rack.