Ingredients
250 ml pecans, chopped
300 ml fine unsweetened coconut
300-400 ml graham wafer crumbs
1 egg
75 g + 25 g butter
125 ml granulated sugar
150 ml cocoa
5 ml + 5 ml vanilla
40 ml vanilla custard powder
30 ml evaporated mill or half & half cream
400–450 ml icing sugar
Chocolate
150 g unsweetened chocolate
150 g semi-sweet or dark chocolate
First Layer
Chop pecans, add fine unsweetened coconut and 300 ml graham wafer crumbs. Set aside. In separate bowl whisk egg until well mixed, no bits of white showing. Set aside.
In stove-top type pot:
Melt 75 g butter on low heat.
Add granulated sugar, stir with flat whisk when sugar is mixed in
Add cocoa.
Heat and stir with whisk until smooth, no granules of sugar.
If too dry, add a little cream, maybe 15 ml.
Remove from heat and add 5 ml vanilla. Stir and then add the whisked egg slowly, whisking continuously.
If you add it too fast and don’t whisk, you get bits of egg cooking due to the heat of the mixture.
Add the previous mixture of graham wafer crumbs, pecans, and coconut; and stir well with a fork.
If it seems runny add more graham crumbs, 50 ml at a time, until it has a good texture for pressing into the bottom of the cake pan—not dry, not runny.
Press with hands to cake pan bottom, making as even as possible.
Second Layer
Beat together:
25 g butter, softened
evaporated milk or half & half cream
vanilla custard powder
5 ml vanilla
350 ml icing sugar, add another 50-100 ml at end as necessary to make it spreadable.
Spread over first layer and put in fridge to chill. Wait at least 20 minutes before starting the third layer.
Third Layer
Unwrap and put chocolate into microwave-proof casserole bowl. Don’t allow the squares to touch liquid
Microwave on power level 4 for about 5 minutes, until blocks can be stirred (by dry fork or knife with no liquid)
Immediately spread on cake. After a few minutes, chill in fridge. After chilling for about 20 minutes, take out pan to cut the pieces before the chocolate gets too hard. Note that liquid causes chocolate to seize up and it goes hard and can’t be spread. thus the need to handle it with care.
Good luck, it’s a lot of work but it’s worth it.