{Coconut Cream Cake}

I was introduced by one of my friends (thanks Chalece) to the best cake recipe I have ever had Seriously...It has so much rich flavor and is so moist. I made it for my Mother in Law while she was here to celebrate her birthday and we were all in Heaven. I think I will make this for all of our future birthdays :)

For the Cake:

Wet Ingredients:

1 c. butter, softened
1 3/4 c. white sugar
1 c. cream of coconut (I found it in the Mexican food section at the grocery store)
4 large eggs

Dry Ingredients:
2 1/2 flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. coconut extract

Separate eggs, set whites aside. Beat wet ingredients together including egg yolks until fluffy. Sit dry ingredients together and stir well. Add dry ingredients to wet using mixer on low speed alternating with buttermilk/extract mixture. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Fold egg whites into batter. Bake at 275-degrees in two 9-inch pans (lightly sprayed with baking spray) for about 90 minutes. After about 60 minutes, do the "toothpick test", repeating every 5-10 min or so until the toothpick comes out clean. After cake is out of the oven and transferred to parchment paper or a cooling rack, poke each cake with a few holes (making sure not to poke all the way through) and drizzle remaining coconut cream over (about 1/2 c. total). This just keeps the cake extra moist. After the cake cools, transfer to the freezer and freeze for a few hours or overnight.

Frost immediately (see frosting recipe below) after removing from the freezer. Allow to thaw for about an hour before serving. If you want to do a layered cake, put a layer of frosting in-between the two cakes and then continue to frost the remainder of the cake. Sprinkle with lightly toasted, shredded coconut (see below).

COCONUT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

1/2 c. butter, softened
8 oz. block cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. coconut extract
1 bag powdered sugar
milk (as needed) 

Beat butter, cream cheese, and coconut extract together, adding powdered sugar little by little until reaching desired consistency. If it seems to get too stiff, add about 1 tsp of milk at a time until you get the consistency you want. (add milk to thin it out, add powdered sugar to thicken it up).


Toasted Coconut:

Place contents of about 1/2 bag of sweetened, shredded coconut on a cookie sheet. Spread it out so it makes just a single layer. Bake for appx. 8-10 minutes in a 325-degree oven. Some pieces will still be white and soft, some browned slightly with a little crunch.


Adapted from: Favorite Family Recipes