Friday, February 20, 2009

Cake Slice: Southern Coconut Cake


This week, the Cake Slice Bakers tackled Southern Coconut Cake, from the cookbook Sky High, by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne.

I told myself all month long that I was not making this cake. And I had a truck-load of excuses too... I'm not crazy about coconut, I don't have time, my waistline doesn't need it, I don't have my old neighbors to unload the extra on, etc., etc..

My husband really dislikes coconut. He'll make faces and tell me that shredded coconut reminds him of toenail clippings (ewwww!). (He can be so grown-up sometimes.)

But then, at the last minute, I got the excuse I needed to get me into the kitchen and channelling my inner coconut lover. You see, the last few nights, we've had two guys over doing some work in the house and they've run into every problem under the sun. What should have taken three or four hours has taken eight, and they're still not done. That's when I told myself, "cake will make it better!"


Turns out, I am SO glad I made this cake. The icing, a cream cheese Italian Meringue buttercream, is to DIE for!! I wish I could fill a swimming pool and swim in it. It's quite rich, though, so a small piece of cake was plenty.

I'm thinking the icing would also work as a "cream cheese mousse"... maybe as part of a fancy plated dessert. (You know, those fancy plated desserts that we all serve after a long day of work, homework checking, running kids, and cooking dinner?)

The cake is good too, moist and soft. I really couldn't detect the coconut milk in it, though.

If you're feeling a little coco-nutty, I highly recommend trying this cake. Coconut lovers might want to up the coconut factor by adding some coconut extract. (You can find the recipe ---> here.)

One last word on this cake. It's versatile... it goes with the tropical theme...


... and the winter wonderland theme.


Seriously, doesn't it just remind you of fluffy, white snow?

Baking Notes:
I halved the recipe and baked it in 6 inch pans. Also, and this is just me... whenever a cake recipe calls for egg whites only, I usually break the rules and use whole eggs, replacing two whites with one whole egg. I'm not all hung up on having pure white cake and having a bowl of egg yolks to find a home for is just one more task in my already busy day. So, that's why my cake is a nice creamy white instead of snow white.

OK, that's all for this month!

28 comments:

Elyse said...

Swimming pool of icing? Now you're talking my language. That description alone made me want to make this cake. Plus, your pictures are just gorgeous!

Mary Ann said...

Your cake looks beautiful and I love the plate you had it on. So pretty!

Gigi said...

If you fill that pool with this cream icing; I will definitely come over and not leave until all the icing is gone! I too LOVED the icing! Loved all the pics of your coconut cake!

Snooky doodle said...

gorgeous cake! I love coconut and this surely is making me drool :)

Sihan said...

I'm joining in the party as well!

my only gripe was that my cake sticked to the greased pan quite a bit. But otherwise.. the flavor of the frosting was mighty fine as you've described.

NKP said...

It's so beautiful! The coconut looks so flaky and fresh! Great job on the cake. If hubby doesn't like coconut I will eat his half.

Steph said...

I love those nice and thick layers. I knew cream cheese italian meringue buttercream could exist, I just didn't know how. Thanks for the recipe link!! I can't wait to try it.

Pamela said...

That is a stunning cake! I would absolutely love a slice, thank you! However, I will no longer be able to look at coconut without thinking about toe nail clippings! :o)

Katie said...

Your cake look wonderful. I bet it made all the hard work worthwhile.

Jo said...

Lovely looking cake and the slices look absolutely moist and delicious.

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks gorgeous and to-die for.

Maria said...

What a pretty cake!! I love coconut too!

The Food Librarian said...

So glad you made this! I think shredded coconut is like dental floss - I like your husbands description too! :) It is very pretty!

grace said...

toenail clippings? that's a comparison i hadn't heard before. :)
i'm glad you ended up making it--it's beautiful!

Megan said...

My husband hates coconut too - just the thought of it makes him gag!

I'd like to try that icing recipe, it sure sounds good!

Shari said...

I LOVE anything with coconut! This cake looks wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Looks so light and fluffy- What an elegant yet simple cake!

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks delicious. I love the plate too!

Stephanie said...

Your cake looks gorgeous! My husband hates shredded coconut too so I had to decide whether or not to do this recipe too.

Marthe said...

Your cake looks absolutely amazing!!!

Fran Z said...

Sounds so good! Always great to bribe the workmen!

TeaLady said...

Your cake is beautiful. Pic is perfect. looks great.

Dragon said...

Can I have two slices of this gorgeous cake? Yum!

Ash said...

This is the nicest coconut cake I've ever seen!
I love it!

Matt's Kitchen said...

While I'm not a big fan of coconut, I will admit that I would happily eat a slice of this cake. But it is much too pretty to cut into. The shot of it on the blue plate makes it look like some fancy couture hat that might show up in a Milanese or Parisienne runway show.

Vera said...

Jacque, your cake looks like a light dreamy cloud! I happened to love "the toenail clippings", so I'm sure this cake would be among my favorites :)

cakemess said...

I read your comments about the coconut cake. I would like to get into the weekly baking from the sky high book. Do you have a list of the cakes and dates? I made the Santa Fe cornmeal cake last week and would like to know what others thought of it (I thought it tasty but a little dry). Thanks for any help.

Sana Hurzuk said...

Hi, for half the recipe how many eggs did you use? I too dislike having extra yolks and want to use the whole egg. For 2 and half egg whites is it enough to add 2 whole eggs?