Cottage cheese and coconut cake with cocoa sponge

Ingredients

For the cheese balls

• 400 g cottage cheese
• 100 g coconut
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 lemon (grated zest
• optional)
• 3 tablespoons milk (only if the cheese is too dry)
• 1 tablespoon semolina (only if the cheese is not well drained)

For the sponge

• 5 eggs
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 1 packet baking powder (10 g)
• 1 tablespoon hot chocolate powder
• 1 g salt

For the glaze

• 100 g chocolate
• 1 tablespoon milk

For decoration

• 20 g coconut flakes

Preparation

1. Line a 30 × 20 cm pan with baking paper. 2. Beat the cottage cheese with 4 tablespoons of sugar until creamy. Mix in the egg, coconut and grated lemon zest. If the cheese is too dry, add 3 tablespoons of milk; if it isn't well drained, mix in 1 tablespoon of semolina. 3. Scoop up some of the mixture with a teaspoon and shape it into balls. Arrange them side by side in the pan until you have used up the mixture. 4. Turn the oven on to 180°C and let it heat for 10 minutes. Beat the 5 eggs with 5 tablespoons of sugar until the mixture is foamy and you can no longer feel the sugar. 5. Add the oil, then the flour, one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in the baking powder, hot chocolate powder and salt until combined. 6. Pour the sponge batter over the cheese balls. Bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, until the sponge has risen and feels firm to the touch. 7. Let the cake cool completely, about 60 minutes. Put the broken-up chocolate and tablespoon of milk in a small saucepan and heat over low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until melted; the glaze should not boil. 8. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and sprinkle with the coconut flakes.