Samoas Cookie Gang Cake

We all have our favorite Girl Scout cookie.  I am a member of the Samoas gang, so stay on your side of the street Thin Mints!  It was Samoas coconutty goodness that inspired me to write "Coconut Life" on myself with a Sharpie marker as part of my initiation.  For those who love coconut as much as myself I recommend making this monster sized cookie (cake!) inspired by Samoas Girl Scout Cookies. Bake it for your next gang get together!

  

This cake may be the best tasting cake I have ever made.  It has beat out Coconut Pineapple Cake from 2005. And has given  Potato Chip Sweet Potato Cake from 2016 a run for it's money.  I followed the instructions for the frosting and topping from this Samoa bundt cake recipe.  For the cake part I used a German chocolate cake mix.

  It is a lot of work to make, having to toast the coconut and keeping a fire extinguisher (more on that here) at the ready, but so worth it. In true Mary style I did mix it up a bit though. The main deviation I made from the recipe is I used butterscotch ice cream topping/syrup instead of caramel. It's what I already had on hand (Harry Potter Butter Beers!).  I know that caramel is really key to authenticate a Samoas cookie. But I am a firm follower of the WWII motto "Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do" every day of the year.  I even think the butterscotch could be an improvement.

My real Girl Scout gang.

While I was in Brownies during my second and third grade years my fellow scouts were my true friends.  They were the friends that I would stay the night with and visit each other's homes.  I remember that I had only one big themed birthday party during my elementary school years.  It was a Cabbage Patch Kids slumber party.  Everyone was to bring over their CPK dolls and I got one as my main birthday present that year.  The guests were all of my dear Brownie friends.

Here is a low down on the frosting part of the cake:

Caramel Frosting

• 3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1/4 cup jarred butterscotch sauce
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Toppings

• 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
• Caramel Sauce
• Hot Fudge Sauce

1. To make frosting, beat butter and butterscotch sauce until creamy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in enough heavy cream to get to desired consistency.
2. Spread frosting on cooled cake.
3. Sprinkle toasted coconut on cake and drizzle with butterscotch sauce and hot fudge sauce.