My last cake was a disaster so I had to offer to bake one for my mom's birthday to make up for it. This time I stuck with our old standby recipe for Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Icing, modified for our nondairy needs. I would definitely call this cake a success, even though I broke one of the layers a bit while putting it on the cooling rack. More patience needed!
Note: I use Earth Balance Buttery Sticks where it calls for shortening coconut milk where it calls for milk.
Chocolate Cake
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Mix in order of ingredients, then mix in:
1 cup of strong coffee.
Makes 2 9-inch layers.
Bake at 375 for ~40 minutes.
Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
8 oz (1/2 box) powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
milk to moisten
the sheep free knitter 
That sounds delicious! I'm going to make it this week. Do you notice a lot of coconut flavor with the coconut milk? And how does that do with the peanut butter flavor? I like coconut and chocolate together.
The cocoa and coffee in the cake totally overpower the very minimal coconut flavor and in the frosting I don't think it matters because you use so little of it.