Today I made a Coconut Creme Cake. Something I have been wanting to attempt for quite some time. I saw the desert on a new show I found on the Food Network: Dessert First. I have to confess, the host of the show sort of annoys me, but she does know her stuff. I DVR the Saturday morning program and watch it at my leisure. That way I can FF through the recipes I find not to my interest and slow down on the ones I do like. All of the recipes are on the Food Network's website, which is extremely helpful, as the hostess of the program, Ann Thornton doesn't give very detailed instructions while you are watching.
I had some bad luck with the cake myself, as it fell to pieces while I was trying to stack it. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't let it cool long enough, or if it was too moist. Nonetheless, I was making a half-cake for my daughter-in-law's 'half birthday'. Her birthday is on Christmas Day and I came up with the idea of on June 25 giving her a half birthday party the first year she and Jason were together. She was surprised, so now we try to keep the tradition up. Tomorrow, the 25th, they will be on a plane to Togo, Africa, so we are having them for dinner tonight. So, my disaster turned out to be not so bad after all! Besides, it gave me an opportunity to taste test and I was very happy with the outcome! Very good cake, I must say.
The frosting is very runny, though and has to be refrigerated to set up. It is difficult to work with and I didn't like it at all. The Cream of Coconut made it very runny, I believe. I could have added more sugar, but was afraid it would have made it excessively sweet.
If anyone else tries it, please let me know your results. I will look forward to comments and feedback, both on the recipes I post and on how well the blog is received.
Thanks.....Kerri
Coconut Crème Cake
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
- 1 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Fine sea salt
- 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can sweetened cream of coconut, well stirred (recommended: Coco Lopez)
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
- 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut mixed with 1 1/2 cups toasted sweetened shredded coconut
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) diameter cake pans with 2-inch high sides.
Pour the flour, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Use a whisk to stir together. In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar, butter and sweetened cream of coconut until fluffy and it resembles whipped cream, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir to incorporate all the ingredients. With the mixer on low speed, beat in 1/2 the dry ingredients, followed by the buttermilk, and the remaining dry ingredients, scraping down the sides in between each addition, just until blended.
Using clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt in another clean large bowl until the egg whites are stiff but not dry. Cook's Note: You want to get the most volume from your egg whites, that's why it is essential that the beaters and bowl are clean
In batches, fold the beaten egg whites into the batter, being careful not to deflate the whites. Divide the cake batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Spread the batter with an offset spatula to level the batter in the pan. Bake the cakes until a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack, about 10 minutes. Gently run a small sharp knife around the pan sides to loosen the cakes. Turn the cakes out onto the racks and cool completely.
Place 1 cake layer, flat-side up, on a cake plate. Spread 1 heaping cup Cream Cheese Frosting over the cake layer, leaving a 1/2-inch border of cake around the edge. This will give the filling a place to go or spread when the second cake layer is placed on top-you don't want it to bulge out the sides!
Sprinkle 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut mix over the frosting. Top with the second cake layer, flat-side up. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. For a retro look, I like swoopy swirls. The best way to achieve it is to spread the frosting using the back of a spoon. It's that easy!
Sprinkle the remaining coconut mix over the cake, gently pressing into the sides to adhere. Coconut Layer Cake can be prepared up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut, well stirred (recommended: Coco Lopez)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Fine sea salt
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