Recipes

Classic Coconut Cake

Who doesn't love coconut cake? Ok, maybe those that don't like coconut wouldn't like coconut cake. But I swear if you tried this cake with everything in there together you would like it. I wasn't a big fan of coconut either when I was younger, which was like forever ago! Yes it was! I am OLD, let me tell ya!  Anyway, I didn't used to like it either, but after trying some coconut cake and some chocolates with coconut cream in the middle I decided it wasn't so bad after all. I think it gets a bad rap because it tends to have a sticky kinda stringy texture. But when it is mixed in with something its flavor comes out and reminds you of some exotic drink you mighta had on your honeymoon in Tahiti. Didn't you honeymoon in Tahiti? Naaww, I didn't either, but you get my gist. You take a bite or a sip and you can't quite put your finger on what that flavor is tickling the back of your tongue. You sniff it and swirl it in your mouth but still you aren't quite sure what it is.

 

That is the fragrant coconut, my friend. It has mild flavor yet rounds out a dish or drink like you wouldn't expect. So I challenge you to find a little room for coconut in your life. Just a tiny spot. You know like over near your rib cage or in the back corner behind your knee cap. And pull it out and use it sometime when you are feeling adventurous. Which is what I did when I tried to tackle a Classic Coconut Cake. I got it from Big City, Little Kitchen and she adapted it from Gourmet Magazines recipe. I made some mistakes while making the cake part and it didn't turn out very well. I'll get into that later. But the frosting! OMGoodness. The FROSTING! I was in heaven. I have never made a Swiss meringue type frosting. But I guarantee it will be one of the first things I reach for when making cakes in the future! So let me break it down for ya.

Here are the ingredients. Salt, sugar,butter, vanilla extract, almond extract, baking powder, whole milk, egg whites and flour. Now here is one place I went wrong. The recipe calls for Cake flour but neither I, nor my local store, had cake flour. So I substitued pastry flour which is only 2% higher on the gluten scale. Now it probably didn't make the biggest difference, but it was a step toward not-so-fluffy cake texture.



Here is everything all mixed up minus the egg whites which needed to be whipped up in a separate clean bowl and folded in. I think this is mistake numero dos (number two, for those that don't watch Dora). See this site strives to be a little educational too. The recipe calls for 3 1/2 cups sifted cake flour. So I measured 3 1/2 cups and put it in my sifter with the baking powder and salt......yes, I measured 3 1/2 cups of flour.  OOOOOO. You want to know why I measured it first. Before sifting? Well, I didn't want to end up with too much flour to measure on the other end. Because you are supposed to measure the 3 1/2 cups flour AFTER it is sifted. But guess what? I forgot that part. It could be because my oldest was home with strep and was bugging me, or my baby was fussing to be let in the kitchen so he could reek havoc on the cat food. Either way, I didn't do it. So that is why I think it had a floury taste. So do as I say, not as I do. Or rather, do as the recipe says. So back to the egg whites.



And looky there. They are all whipped up.



See that peak? Nice huh?


 
Here it is all folded into the batter. Now at this point I'm thinking 'that looks pretty good'. And it kinda was but I noticed a......floury taste to it. Yes. I tasted it. AND? I had fresh eggs and I am not elderly or infirmed or a child. I have done it many times over many years and have yet to have ANY problems with salmonella. I'm fine, but thanks for thinking about me.



I poured it into my sprayed, and parchment lined pans. Then here is where I think I made the biggest mistake. After putting them in the pans I tried to even out the batter into and picked the pans up and pounded them on the table. Remember being told to do that when you were younger. Seeing your mom or grandma doing that to the brownies? Well I do. And I shoulda known better. I haven't used that technique since highschool and I don't know what caused me to this time. Coulda been those trifling kids again. Anyway, I think doing that made the egg whites deflate and caused the cake to be dense when it baked. It could have been light and fluffy. But NNNNOOOOO. I had to go and smoosh down all those innocent egg's that did nothing to me. Except maybe add a little bulk to my hips. But I should blame that on my kids, not the eggs. I am only 5 feet tall and those babies had to go somewhere while gestating. Ok ok OK. Enough about babies and gestating. Back to my cakes.



See how they look.......compact? This is what squished egg whites look like. This is what I did wrong. Next time I will do better. I will remember.


After letting them cool in a pan I flipped them onto a cooling rack and peeled off the parchment paper. Doing this one thing makes removing cakes sooo much easier.



Doesn't this look like browned shredded cheese? Well it isn't. It is toasted coconut. I prefer toasted to untoasted cause it is less sticky and less chewy to me.



I took both square cakes and sliced them horizontally. Then in half again down the center ending up with 4 rectangles for each cake. I took one half of them, filled, iced and coated them with the meringue and toasted coconut. Here is the result. 



I then took the other sections and cut little circles out of the cakes with a biscuit cutter. Layered them with swiss meringue frosting and coconut mixed in. Then frosted them all over with plain meringue. And topped them with some of the toasted coconut. This procedure made about 3 -3 layered round cakes. All in all it wasn't bad. But I would definately make changes the next time I do this recipe.



If you have a favorite coconut cake recipe handed down to you through generations of family,  give it to me!  I....uh....mean....uh....let me know what differences you noticed and how your family enjoys their coconut. If not, then please enjoy this one.

Coconut Cake, A Southern Classic