Recipe and Reflections

This is probably old news to my friends beyond the world of blogging, but my father passed away four weeks ago. It was very sudden and took us all by surprise. Though his memorial service happened in late December, we just had his burial service a little less than a week ago, on what would have been his 65th birthday. In early December I had asked him what cake he wanted me to bake for his birthday, and he had requested a coconut cake (my dad was a coconut fiend). We planned to have lunch at my aunt's house after the burial, so I decided to bake the cake to bring to lunch.




this was definitely one of the hardest recipes I've attempted-even harder than cheesecake. However, the end result was delicious.

ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco Lépez)*
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
4 cups sweetened shredded coconut

2 (8-ounce) packages Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco López)*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter and sweetened cream of coconut in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients and then buttermilk, each just until blended.

Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites with pinch of salt in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold beaten egg whites into batter.

Divide cake batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on rack 10 minutes. Run small sharp knife around pan sides to loosen cakes. Turn cakes out onto racks and cool completely.

Place 1 cake layer on cake plate. Spread 1 cup Cream Cheese Frosting over cake layer. Sprinkle 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut over. Top with second cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle remaining coconut over cake, gently pressing into sides to adhere.

for frosting:

Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until fluffy. Add butter and beat to blend. Add sugar, sweetened cream of coconut and vanilla extract and beat until well blended.

A Brief Hiatus from Healthy Food

I know I fail at updating as regularly as I planned to. I don't have any new healthy recipes to share, so instead I'm bringing you a recipe that isn't healthy, but tastes amazing. It's for a cake!

A friend commissioned me to bake a birthday cake for her earlier this month, and of course I was happy to oblige! The recipe was originally for cupcakes, but I converted it into a layer cake.


The cake of birthday goodness

Port Wine and Cherry Cake with Marscapone Frosting
ingredients:
1.5 cups port wine
1.5 cups cherry pie filling
2 sticks butter
6 T + 1.5 cups sugar
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

16 oz. marscapone
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup confectioners sugar
cherries

directions:
simmer port and cherries in saucepan for 10 minutes. Remove 1/4 cup of liquid and set aside.
Add butter, 6T sugar, chocolate, and cocoa to saucepan and whisk until melted. set aside and let cool.
in a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and remaining sugar. set aside.
in a large bowl, whisk eggs and sour cream. add port mixture and mix briefly. add flour mixture and mix briefly. pour into two greased cake pans. bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool in cake pan before transferring to wire rack.

Beat marscapone, heavy cream, and confectioners sugar until a stiff peak form.
spoon remaining port mixture on each cake layer before frosting.