Double Coconut Cake

Ok, you might have noticed that I don’t make too many sweet dishes. I am always trying to cook reasonably healthy. But what the heck, I cook something decadent and sweet once in a blue moon! Today we have a blue moon.  Since this is my first time making a cake in more than 20 years, I will try this simple recipe from the Cooking Light cookbook. It asks for round baking pans. Who has a baking pan? I don’t! but I have a bundt cake pan. Let’s try there and see what happens. So in truth, this won’t be a double-coconut cake. It will be a bundt coconut cake.

After baking: it turned out really good! Yummm!!!! Light and fluffy!

Double-Coconut Cake

(from Cooking Light)

14 servings

Ingredients

Cooking spray

1  tablespoon  cake flour

2 1/4  cups  sifted cake flour

(if you don’t have cake flour, you can substitute ¾ plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour for 1 cup of cake flour)

2 1/4  teaspoons  baking powder

1/2  teaspoon  salt

1 2/3  cups  sugar

1/3  cup  butter, softened

2  large eggs

1  (14-ounce) can light coconut milk

1  tablespoon  vanilla extract

Fluffy Coconut Frosting

2/3  cup  flaked sweetened coconut, divided

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray; dust with 1 tablespoon flour.

Combine 2 1/4 cups flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (for about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in vanilla.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Sharply tap the pans once on countertop to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks, and remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1 cup Fluffy Coconut Frosting. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup coconut. Top with remaining cake layer; spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle 1/3 cup coconut over top of cake. Store cake loosely covered in refrigerator.

Fluffy Coconut Frosting

Yield: about 4 cups (serving size: about 1/4 cup)

Ingredients

4  large egg whites

1/2  teaspoon  cream of tartar

Dash of salt

1  cup  sugar

1/4  cup  water

1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract

1/4  teaspoon  coconut extract

Preparation

Place egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until candy thermometer registers 238°. Pour hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over egg whites, beating at high speed. Stir in extracts.