Coconut Layer Cake

Hi. This is Richie, Felicia’s food prepping and taste testing husband. Since we lost Felicia last summer to metastatic breast cancer, it's been hard to even think of adding new stories and recipes to the blog. Eventually, you realize that the best way to honor someone you love is to nurture and grow what they put their heart and soul into creating.

I know Felicia wanted us to continue to enjoy cooking and sharing our favorite recipes so our family is going to try to honor her memory by forging ahead with new content for Unwritten Recipes.

To become a true contributor to the blog, I’ve focused a good amount of my free time the last several months on a type of "kitchen therapy" – basically trying out as many of Felicia’s recipes as I could. I discovered this was not only a great way to keep her memory alive but it also helped fill the gap (at least a little) of the love, joy and warmth that her cooking brought to our daily lives and family gatherings.

I've been on a tear these last few months trying my hand at making some of Felicia's favorite recipes. Focusing mostly on baking (it appeals to my math/science side), I’ve made Flourless Chocolate Cake, Lemon Cake Cookies, Apple Crumb Pie, Coconut Macaroons and more. I've gotten over my tentativeness with breads (Oatmeal Bread, Peasant Bread, English Muffin Bread, Challah, ..,) and am easing into some of the more adventurous appetizers (Winter Vegetable Soup, Apple Crepes). I’ve made it my business to prepare and bring her recipes to events with family and friends and while the results are not nearly up to her high standards, everyone has been kind and supportive of my efforts.

The biggest hurdle to restarting the blog has been where to start. When April, my birthday month, arrived, I knew that for the first time in 40 years I wouldn’t have that special someone coming up to me with her mischievous smile and whispering, "so… what delicious treat can I make for you?"

Then it came to me. What better choice for the newest entry to the blog than to jump in and attempt a recipe that had become a tradition on my birthday over the years – Coconut Layer Cake

This recipe was my top choice for a special birthday that coincided with our kitchen makeover in the spring of 2017. After the months of architectural plans, shopping for appliances and cabinets, construction dust, painting, plumbing and electrical installations, and final touchups, it was wonderful to finally plug in the mixer, heat up the oven, and replace the last lingering scent of paint and polyurethane with the aroma of freshly baking cake.

After assembling and mixing all the ingredients, there were some nervous moments at the start of the bake – how would the new oven behave?

I should not have worried. All appliances worked as expected and my birthday layer cake came out as tall and tasty as ever. Even though all the drawers and cabinets were still empty, we made due with old Thomas the Tank Engine party plates and plastic forks. We lit the candles, gathered around the island, and celebrated the first of many delicious treats that would flow from the oven of our beautiful new kitchen.

My current apartment kitchen does not have the same feel as the renovated one, but the baking has been going well so far. I was happy with this cake and it has inspired me to experiment even more.

I was surprised after all these years to discover that this cake was not on Unwritten Recipes. After a lengthy hunt through Felicia’s recipe books and binders I was delighted to finally find it. It’s meaningful that this first blog post after a long while will add this personal favorite to Felicia’s wonderful catalog. Enjoy!

Have a fun July 4th holiday! We’ll be back soon with some cool summer delights!

Coconut Layer Cake

Prep Time: 30 Minutes; Total: 4 Hours (includes Baking and Cooling Time)

NOTE: Room–temperature ingredients make all the difference in this cake. You can get more loft from non-chilled egg whites, and room-temperature butter is easier to beat together with sugar than the straight-from-the-fridge versions. The fluffy egg whites and properly creamed butter and sugar mean tender, light cake. The same goes for the frosting. Room–temperature butter and cream cheese will translate to creamy, smooth frosting instead of a lumpy, sticky mess.

Ingredients

CAKE

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

2  cups all-purpose flour

1  1/3   cups (loosely packed) sweetened flaked coconut

1  cup buttermilk

1  teaspoon baking soda

2  cups sugar

1  cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

5  large egg yolks

4  large egg whites, room temperature

FROSTING

3 1/3  cups powdered sugar

1   8-ounce package Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature

½  cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2   teaspoons vanilla extract

1   cup (about) sweetened flaked coconut

The Recipe

CAKE

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Coat two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2 inch sides with non-stick spray; line bottom of pans with parchment paper rounds. (TIP – push the Parchment paper down into each pan until it spreads to the edges. Take the point of a small knife and cut through all around the edge until you are left with just the round piece covering the bottom.)

2. Mix flour and flaked coconut in a medium bowl.

3. Whisk the buttermilk and baking soda in a small bowl.

4. In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes on medium). Add egg yolks to this mixture and beat until blended. In this same large bowl, add the flour/coconut mixture (3 passes) alternately with the buttermilk mixture (2 passes) – beat on Low to blend after each of the 5 additions.

5. Take another large bowl, and with clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites and ¼ teaspoon of salt until firm peaks form. In 3 passes, add 1/3 of this egg white mixture to the main bowl of batter, each time using a spatula to fold it in, just to blend. When the batter is smoothly blended, divide it between the two prepared cake pans.

6. Bake the cakes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool cakes in their pans, on racks, for 10 minutes. Run a small, sharp knife around the sides of the cake pans to loosen and then invert the cakes onto the racks. Carefully remove the parchment paper. Allow cakes to cool completely.

FROSTING

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl until blended.

2. Place 1 cake layer, FLAT SIDE UP, on a plate. Spread with 1 cup of frosting. Place second cake layer, FLAT SIDE DOWN, on top of the frosted top of the first cake layer. (TIP – Placing the two flat sides together will minimize the gap between layers and make frosting the outside of the cake easier.) Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle some of the coconut flakes over the top of the cake; pat more of the coconut flakes around all sides of the cake until evenly covered.

This cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cover (a cake dome is best) and refrigerate. Remove and let stand for 1 hour before serving.

NOTE: Adapted from the Bon Appetit Magazine “Readers’ Favorite Restaurant Recipes”. This reader loved the Coconut Cake from the Hominy Grill in Charleston, SC.