“Sue Lesh’s Coconut Cake” – Photo: L.Weikel
Scrumptious
Last week, a friend of mine from high school posted a photo of a two-layer coconut cake her husband had baked for her birthday. It looked scrumptious, and when I commented about it, she told me where to look to find the recipe.
Those of you who’ve read my posts since the beginning of my 1111 Devotion (there’s a walk down memory lane again, eh?) may recall that I have two favorite ‘go-to’ birthday cakes. Carol’s Chocolate Cake and Aunt Grace’s Cake. These two cakes have been staples in my life for as long as I can remember.
Well, believe it or not, I actually think a third has now won a coveted spot in the birthday confection rotation. Yes! And even though this is a recipe that can be found online under the auspices of The Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten), this cake (and the small tweak to the icing that I added) will forever be known in my household as ‘Sue Lesh’s Coconut Cake.’
It’s That Good
I assure you, this cake is really and truly that good. The consistency of the cake itself is reminiscent of the old fashioned kind – both wonderfully moist and dense, but not as heavy as a pound cake. And the icing? Oh my goodness, it’s a cream cheese confection that has the potential to make a person swoon.
My variation, which you can readily observe from the photographs, was to add fresh raspberries to the bowl when mixing the icing. I’m delighted with the beautiful color the raspberries added and even more pleased with the tart twist the berries added to the sweet icing.
I’d originally toyed with just adding the raspberries to the icing I put between the layers of cake. So that’s what I did at first. I only added raspberries to a couple-three huge dollops of the white stuff. Once I put the layers together, I started covering the cake with the remaining white icing called for in the recipe. But as I did, I again tasted the leftovers of the vibrant pink icing (OK, I scraped the bowl out with my finger) and decided that was the taste that needed to be slathered over the rest of the cake as well.
Yum.
Karl has already put in his order. (But that’s not ‘til August.) Maybe I’ll have to practice a couple more times to make sure I have it just right? I think it’s my duty, don’t you?
Couldn’t eat a bite – Photo: L. Weikel
(T+111)
Hmmm, could I make it Gluten-free? My husband hates coconut, So I would have to eat it by myself. I don’t usually eat cake but I do eat coconut cake
I don’t know – do people use almond flour or stuff like that to make it gluten free? It might be worth a try!
Maybe cut the recipe in half and only make a single layer (if you’re disinclined to ‘eat the whole thing!’).
Personally, I’d eat the whole thing!