Coconut Cake with Frosting

Modified from Alton Brown’s and Paula Deen’s recipes

How I did it below… please experiment with it. It’s likely round metal pans will give you a moister cake then mine since I used a Pyrex. Next time, I’ll take the extra 2 egg yolks from the frosting and add them to the cake in place of some of the water

7-Minute Frosting w/ coconut (the frosting is like thin marshmallow)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut water
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Place sugar, cream of tartar (or corn syrup), salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler.

Beat on low for 1 minute, then on high for 6, remove from heat and stir in extracts and unsweetened coconut water

Basic 1-2-3-4 Cake (modified for coconut)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 cups of flour + 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder (or 3 cups sifted self-rising flour)
4 eggs
1 cup unsweetened coconut water
1 teaspoon coconut extract

Frosting (above)
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4 inches above counter, then dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure a more level cake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pans 5 to 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling racks. Cool completely and spread cake layers with your favorite frosting to make a 3-layer cake.

Cover the outside of the cake in frosting and cover in sweetened shredded coconut

Yield: 3 layer cakes
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 to 30 minutes

(pyrex 13×9 took 43 minutes at 350 degrees, cut to create 3 layers)