Coconut Cake

Coconut cake is one of those things I always wanted to make but for one reason or another I never  made it. A couple of weeks ago I was watching food network and Bobby Flay was having a coconut challenge so I finally decided to do some research and find a good coconut cake recipe. I found several recipes, based on those I came out with one recipe to test. I got lucky and the results were magnificent!! The cake was so good just by it self we almost ate it with out any frosting. If you want to have a very good coconut cake give this recipe a try.....

The quantities I will give you here are good for two 6 in by 3 in cake and one 6 in by  2 in. I decided to make the cakes that way so we do not have a big cake just for the two of us, in this way I placed 2 of them in the freezer so we can enjoy later trying different frosting/cake combination....

Recipe:


Cake:

2 ½ cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
⅔ cup coconut milk
1 ½ cups sweetened coconut flakes (unsweetened is ok if you want to cut down calories)

Frosting:
(for one 6x3 in cake)

4 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
zest of half lemon
1 tsp of lemon extract

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (sifted)
3/4 cup toasted unsweetened coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
Into a bowl whisk  flour, baking powder and salt together; set aside. 
In another mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes at medium speed. Add eggs 1 at a time until combined. Add vanilla extract. Add coconut milk mix well. Add dry ingredients and shredded coconut and mix (do not over mix).  


Pour the cake into the pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown, in my case were 25 min for the 6 x 2 inches. Let cool on wire racks.

For the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter together until light and smooth. Add lemon extract and zest,  add the confectioners' sugar slowly  until thoroughly incorporated. 


To toast the coconut flakes until they turn golden brown (I used a pan but you can do it in the oven if you want). Frost the cake with the cream cheese/lemon frosting. Garnish with toasted coconut flakes.