I have a confession to make. I didn’t take a picture of this cake. I was in such a hurry this morning to finish it up and get it out the door to the cafe (now open!), that I forgot, and I forgot to take my camera along as well. It was greeted with pleasure, though – I had it up on the cake stand for all of two or three minutes before the first order for it came through, so I got to cut the first slice. It looked fabulous! And I can say from the scraps that the cake itself tasted wonderfully coconutty, and that the frosting complemented it well.
Although, as for the frosting – I have a confession to make there as well. Italian buttercream (made when you whip a hot sugar syrup into egg whites) continues to elude me. Seems no matter how many times I try to make it, I always end up with calcified sugar lumps in a buttercream frosting. So after the first failure, I gave up and just made a stiff meringue the regular way (with egg whites and sugar). I do hereby vow to spend a day trying to get it right, though. Any tips? (I already know not to drizzle it in while the mixer’s running or I end up with spun sugar, been there, done that) I suspect that I’m heating the syrup too much, although with today’s recipe the quantity was so small that it blew through soft-ball and evaporated nearly entirely in about 2 seconds, once it passed 110F. Yow! Don’t know how to keep that from happening.
So here’s a picture of Dorie’s Picture Perfect Party Cake, which looks a lot like the one I made today on the outside, although you should imagine no raspberries, a bigger sprinkle of coconut on the top center, and balls of frosting around the top edge (as a guide to serving size for the cafe).
Faux Coconut Cake
To see how the other folks among the Cake Slice Bakers fared, check them out!
Here’s the recipe for the cake that I did make:
Southern Coconut Cake
From Sky High : Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes
Makes an 8-inch triple layer cake [Or, if you’re me and forget to bring the 8″ pans, a triple-layer 9″ cake. Came out just fine.]
For the cake:
5 large egg whites
½ cup of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3 cups of cake flour
2 and 1/3 cup sugar
4 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter (8oz.) at warm room temperature
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk [I used Trader Joe’s Light. Fabulous!]
2 ½ cups of sweetened flaked coconut for garnishing cake [I used Mounds. They’ve just started selling coconut, and it’s longer and moister than any other brand of sweetened coconut I’ve seen out there. I love it.]
1.Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Butter the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a parchment circle and butter the circle.
2. Put the egg whites in a bowl and whisk slightly. Add the ½ cup of milk and the vanilla and whisk to mix thoroughly; set aside.
3.In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, beat dry ingredients well in order to break up any lumps. Add the butter and coconut milk on low speed and beat just to combine. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy about 2 minutes.
4.Add the egg white mixture in 2 or 3 additions, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Divide the batter among the pans.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake taster inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Then turn the cakes out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
6.To assemble the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on an 8-inch cake round. Cover this layer with 1 cup of the buttercream frosting. Spread it evenly all the way to edge of the cake. Then sprinkle ½ cup of shredded coconut on top. Add the second layer and repeat the process. Top with the final layer of cake and frost the top and sides of the cake.
7.Place the remaining 1 ½ cups shredded coconut on a large baking tray. Pick up the cake and hold it on the palm of one hand over the tray. Using the other hand scoop up the coconut and press it to the sides of the cake. Continue with this process until the sides of the cake are covered. Set the cake on a serving plate and sprinkle any remaining coconut on top of cake. Chill cake for at least one hour to allow frosting to firm up a bit.
Cream cheese buttercream frosting
12 ounces of cream cheese, slightly chilled
1 stick of butter plus 6 tablespoons of butter (7 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup of confectioners sugar, sifted after measuring
2 teaspoons of granulated sugar
¼ cup of water
3 egg whites
1. Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer and beat on medium speed until slightly fluffy and smooth. Add the butter 1-2 tablespoons at a time, mixing until smooth. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and mix until fluffy. Set aside at room temperature while buttercream is made.
[I include the following for your edification, although as I said, I just made a straight up meringue by beating the whites, then adding the 2tsp of sugar, then beating to stiff meringue and using that]
2.Combine the granulated sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue to cook without stirring until the syrup reaches the softball stage 228 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
3.Meanwhile, place the egg whites in mixer bowl and have the mixer ready to go. When the syrup is ready, turn the mixer on med-low and begin mixing the egg whites. Slowly add the hot syrup to the whites taking care not to pour onto the beaters, it may splash. When all the syrup is incorporated, raise the speed on the mixer to med-high and beat the egg whites until mixture has cooled and stiff meringue forms.
4. With the mixer on low, begin adding the cream cheese mixture by the spoonful. When all is incorporated, raise the speed to medium and whip until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
Sugarpunk Desserts 