Coconut (not a) Layer Cake

It's time! It's time! 
The Cake Slice Bakers voted to bake the Coconut Layer Cake for April! 

 We are baking from Great Cakes by Carole Walter. 

As usual I didn't make it by the book. My layer cake turned into cupcakes because I wanted to serve them with our Easter dinner. I also didn't use the recommended frosting because I had not made a frosting as the book listed and chose to use a tried and true swiss buttercream instead.

This coconut cake was a bit different because it called for the coconut to be steeped in scaled milk for half an hour.  Then you put the milk and coconut into a food processor and blitzed until the coconut was broken down.  

I used coconut milk hoping for a stronger coconut flavor in the cake...*

The cake mixed up in the usual fashion - cream together the butter and sugar, add in the eggs then add in the dry ingredients alternating with the coconut milk.

Scooped the batter into the cupcake liners and into the 350 degree oven they went.  For reference ~ the recipe made 22 cupcakes and they were done in about 13 minutes.

Working in a leveled oven has sure been nice!  Ha!  The cupcakes rose with a nice round dome.

I let the cupcakes cool over night then went to work on them with the buttercream, which I flavored with just a hint of coconut flavoring.

And then topped with toasted coconut.

These cupcakes turn out nicely and we got good reviews of them at Easter dinner.  They have a nice airy texture and baked up well as cupcakes.

*I personally thought they could have used much more coconut flavor.  Since I added the coconut milk I am guessing that a small amount of good coconut flavoring would help boost the flavor.

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Enjoy!

:)

*I didn't publish the recipe because it comes from a copyrighted cookbook.

Coconut Pound Cake with Lime Glaze

I joined the baking group Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge a couple of months ago.  Each month we are given two ingredients and then we share what we made with those ingredients.  This month we were given Lime & Coconut.  I decided to make the dessert for Mother's Day.  Great idea!  Too bad the challenge was set to go live on the 9th not the 14th as I had stuck in my brain.  Oh well I will catch up next month lol!

Mother's Day the men folk in our family take care of the cooking... some of the cleaning and the day on a whole.  We have had everything from Italian to Greek food served to us and all of it very tasty!  We are a very blessed family to have such great men that will jump in and do this for us.  This year has been quite a crazy one so it was decided that we would have roast beef, potatoes, brussel sprouts and then dessert.  My mother likes angel food cake with strawberries so that was automatically top of the list.  Then I decided to make my challenge dessert.  Hubster was very helpful as always in the kitchen and I even got a quick trip to Sur La Table for a new Fat Daddio tube pan...woohoo!

Pound cake is pretty simple.  Cream together your butter and sugar, add your liquids, mix in your coconut and add your dry ingredients .

It is a good idea to grease and flour your pan well.  Spoon your batter into the pan and smooth out the top a bit... no need to be too fussy about it.

Bake until a golden brown ~ about an hour but I would start checking for doneness at 45 minutes.  The internal temperature should be between 200°F - 210°F.

Mix up your glaze while the cake is cooling.  When making a glaze like this start with the least amount of liquid then add more until you get the consistency you like.  Once you have whisked it to be smooth and is at the consistency desired, add your zest and give it a few more whisks.

Allow to cool for a bit before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.  Turn back over onto the serving plate and drizzle with the glaze before serving.

Coconut Pound Cake with Lime Glaze

by My Sister's Table

adapted from Dramatic Pancake

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients for the cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1½ tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 eggs, at room temperature

1 cup coconut milk

3/4 tsp coconut extract

3½ oz Angel Flake or Bakers sweetened, shredded coconut

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour a 9- or 10-inch tube pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add in eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Mix in the milk, extract and shredded coconut. Finally, add the flour, baking powder and salt mixture, and stir until just combined. 

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake about 1 hour until golden brown.  The internal temperature should be between 200°F - 210°F.

Cool cake in pan for 5-10 minutes before removing. 

While the cake is cooling make the glaze.  Drizzle with the glaze before serving.

Ingredients for the glaze:

3-4 tablespoons lime juice

2 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon lime zest

Whisk together three tablespoons lime juice and powdered sugar until smooth.  If you want it thinner add more juice.  Whisk in the lime zest and your glaze is ready to go on your cake.

Printable recipe here.

Dessert laid out for Mother's Day.

Enjoy!

: )