Coconut Cake... Again

I heard through the grapevine that our friend Tripp was hoping his birthday might bring a homemade Coconut Cake per the blog post from a few months back. Luci threw his a suprise dinner party on Friday night so I offerred to bring the surprise birthday cake. The last Coconut Cake post was my mother-in-law Claudia's recipe (white cake with a rich coconut filling and fluffy seven minute icing) which is absolutely excellent. This time I decided to try Ina Garten's recipe with a few twists. For the cake: 3 sticks of butter at room temperature 1 2/3 cup sugar 6 eggs 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/2 tsp almond extract 3 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 cup cream of coconut 4 oz shredded coconut I first creamed the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Lately I've determined that "room temperature" isn't quite soft enough this time of year so I set the butter out on the counter for 4-6 hours but then I also put it in the microwave at the very lowest setting for 20 seconds. It works perfectly- just barely shiny and soft without any melting what-so-ever. When baking, its really important that the butter and sugar phase is really light and fluffy to ensure a light and airy cake- in this case I beat it in the mixer with the paddle attachment for about 4 minutes. Next I added the eggs, one at time, mixing until encorporated each time- then the vanilla and almond extracts. I was thankful that Ina warned me that it might look curdled at this point because it absolutely did and I might have worried me otherwise. As soon as the dry ingriedents went in, it all came together nicely. I sifted the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and then added them a little bit at a time- alternating with the coconut milk. The flaked coconut goes in at the very end, folding in gently before pouring the batter into two 9 inch round pans. I buttered them well and then dusted with flour, the cakes came out rather easily after having cooled 30 minutes on a rack in the pans. So here is the biggest twist... Ina makes a delectable cream cheese frosting that she uses as a filling too but I decided to use Claudia's coconut filling on the inside instead. I sliced each layer in half, creating four layers...more space for the gooey coconut yumminess inside! Filling: 2 cups sugar 1/2 cup coconut milk (had some left in the can) 1 egg 2 Tablespoons flour 8-10 oz shredded coconut 1 tsp vanilla Bring first four ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking to make sure it doesn't stick. Then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the coconut and vanilla extract. I actually made the cake layers and the filling the night before. Everything should be cooled competely to room temperature before assembly. I assembled the cake right onto the cake stand, sliding pieces of tin foil just underneath the edges first. You can then pull them out gently after you've frosted the cake and the cake stand is still clean. Lastly, I made the cream cheese frosting for the outside: 1 and 1/2 packages of cream cheese at room temperature 3/4 stick of butter of room temperature 2/3 or 3/4 of a box of powdered sugar (I start less and add a bit more if needed) 3/4 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp almond extract I beat everything together in the mixer until it is smooth and creamy. The hardest part is trying desperately not to each too much of it along the way...you'll need enough frosting to cover the whole cake. **This frosting is perfect on almost any kind of cake. It is really so simple- there's no excuse for store bought frosting unless you're REALLY in a pinch. I do however cheat and use store bought cake with this homemade frosting and you can typically fool just about anyone into thinking you slaved all day. I carefully frosted the cake and then lightly pressed flaked coconut all over the outside to give it that fluffy, snow white coconut cake look. (Ironically, it snowed 2-3 inches that night!! The first real snow in Charleston for years!) I gave the cake about one hour to set up in the fridge before we went over to Tripp and Luci's. It is absolutely best served at room temperature though it should probably stay refridgerated over night. Leftovers were even better the next day!