Three Cheers for Coconut Cake!

Coconut. You either love or you hate it. It appears that the coconut haters are winning because in an overabundance of caution, I have shied away from making this cake to appease the coconut non-likers for years. So, when I was hosting bookclub on my friend Heather’s birthday and I asked her what her favorite cake was, and she said coconut. I knew it was time.

I made Ina Garten’s Coconut Cake from her Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook, and it was the star of the night. I made a few adjustments. I substituted Vanilla Bean Project’s Organic Vanilla Bean Paste for the vanilla and almond extracts and I used coconut milk instead of dairy milk. Also, I used cake flour instead of all-purpose, because scratch-made cakes and be a little bit heavier, and I was hoping that the cake flour would result in a lighter crumb.

For the extra WOW factor, I decorated the cake with edible flowers. I found them at Whole Foods Markets by the herbs. I hope you enjoy this showstopper of a cake. It’s perfect for a summer birthday party

For the cake:

3 sticks butter

2 cups sugar

6 large eggs

1 TBP Vanilla Bean Project Organic Vanilla Bean Paste

3 cups cake flour

1 TSP baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ TSP salt

1 cup coconut milk

4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting:

1 pound cream cheese (2 packages), room temperature

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 TSP Vanilla Bean Project Organic Vanilla Bean Paste

1 pound powdered sugar (I got out my kitchen scale for this one.)

6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans, then line them in parchment paper. Grease them again and dust lightly with flour. I always use a pencil to make the circle with parchment paper, and then cut around the circle.

Cream the butter, vanilla bean paste, and the sugar with a stand mixer for 3 to 5 minutes until light yellow and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. And now comes the best line of Ina’s recipe, it says, “The mixture might look curdled; don’t be concerned.”  While the texture of the cake does look a bit weird at this point, please don’t worry and simply carry on.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. With the stand mixer on low, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and add the coconut milk. Mix until just combined. Overmixing at this point will result in a heavy cake.

Pour the batter evenly into two pans. Bake for 45 minutes, start checking the cake at 35 minutes for doneness. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, then turn out the cake onto a baking rack to finish cooling.

For the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter, and mix at low speed. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

To assemble the cake, put the first layer on the cake stand. Spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top and frost the top and sides. To decorate the cake, sprinkle the top with coconut and lightly press more coconut on the sides. Press edible flowers into the frosting to decorate the cake as desired. If it is a hot day, put cake in the refrigerator until the guests arrive.

Serve at room temperature.