When I was a young girl, there was nothing I got more excited for than Thanksgiving. That is because, every year, everyone in my family that could travel ventured to New York and my great aunt’s house for dinner. Everyone brought a dish, and all of the food was always delicious. Although almost everyone in my family could cook wonderfully, my great aunt was the queen of cakes, and the cake that she made especially well was coconut cake. One could feel the excitement in the air mounting as the dinner food, consisting of beautiful honey ham, turkey, creamy macaroni and cheese, and a host of others, slowly disappeared. This meant that the desserts, and the coconut cake, soon followed. Slowly, the beautiful procession of desserts entered the dining room, and everyone had their eyes on the tall, cloud-like, coconut covered cake placed in the center of the table. But you don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to add this kind of excitement to your dinner table. This beautiful, delicious cake can be made for any occasion, and is sure to make your family just as excited as it did mine.
Making a coconut cake from scratch does take a lot of ingredients and a bit of extra work, but the finished product is well worth the time it takes to prepare. To make a coconut cake, you will need: 3 cups of sifted all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1 cup of vegetable shortening (I normally use Crisco), 2 cups of sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract, 4 large eggs, and 1 cup of canned coconut milk for the cake, 4 cups of sugar, 1 1/3 cups of water, 4 tablespoons of light corn syrup, ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar, 8 large egg whites, 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and ½ teaspoon of salt for the icing and filling, and 4 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut.
This is a layer cake, so first you want to butter and flour three 9-inch cake pans and set them to the side. Then, preheat your oven to 350ºF.
Next, start making the batter for the cake. Put the 3 cups of all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon of salt and baking powder into a medium bowl and mix the ingredients together. Then, in a large mixing bowl, beat the shortening and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the coconut milk, vanilla extract, and the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture thoroughly after every addition. Now, reduce the mixing speed to medium-low, and start to add the flour mixture gradually. Stop occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl and incorporate all of the batter. Once the batter is completed, pour it into each of the three cake pans, place the pans in the oven, and bake them until each cake takes on a golden brown color. To check the cakes and see if they are done, insert a knife or toothpick in the center. If the knife or toothpick comes out clean, the cakes are done baking. Remove the cakes from the oven and set them of a cooling rack for about 15 minutes to cool. Then, take the cakes out of the pans and set them back on the cooling rack to cool completely.
Now it is time to make the icing and filling. Put the water, corn syrup, cream of tartar, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring the ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring the pan occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved. If you have a candy thermometer, place it in the pan and continue to boil the syrup, cleaning the sides or the pan with a clean pastry brush dipped in water. Check the thermometer occasionally until it registers at 240ºF.
While you wait for the syrup to finish, begin to whip the egg whites in a large bowl, whipping them to medium peaks until the syrup is finished cooking. Then, when the syrup is ready, immediately begin to drizzle it down the side of the bowl containing the egg whites while continuing to mix the whites at a medium-low speed. Be careful not to pour the sugar too quickly. When you have poured all of the syrup, increase your mixing speed to high, and beat the icing until it is think and fluffy. The icing should be lukewarm. If it too hot, just continue to beat it until it cools. Then, incorporate the 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract and set the icing aside for a moment, reserving 2 cups of the icing for the filling.
Now it is time to assemble the cake. Place the bottom layer of the cake on a cake plate and spread the top with one half of the filling. Then set another layer of cake on top of the filling, and spread the remaining filling over the top of this second layer of cake. Then, place the third layer of cake on top, and coat the entire cake with the icing.
Last, cover the entire cake with the shredded coconut flakes, making sure you press the flakes into the sides and top of the cake, and chill the cake for about 10 minutes.
When you bring this beautiful coconut cake to the table at dinner, you can be sure to watch with enjoyment as your family’s eyes widen and the cake disappears, one slice at a time.
