*Disclaimer: I am not a big coconut person, nor am I a cake person. But, when a friend wants you to recreate a wonderful food memory from her past, you do what you have to do!
Recently, my friend Jill sent me a recipe for a coconut cake – something I have never made. Jill is an amazing cook – I love for her to make me dinner- but she has some sort of weird aversion to baking. So, she makes me loaded tots (yummy!) and I make her cake!
This coconut cake recipe from The Stay at Home Chef didn’t look too complicated. The only problem was that I couldn’t find a good coconut extract. Who knew that I was living in a coconut desert! All I could find was an artificial coconut extract, and I knew that it just wouldn’t do. Thank goodness for Amazon – Jill found a quality extract so I was on my way to making this amazing cake!
The cake itself had the extract and coconut milk in it- so it was VERY coconut-y! My house smelled like a mix of Hawaii and a bakery. Or a bakery in Hawaii???? The frosting also had some coconut extract in it, but it was tempered by the cream cheese and butter. I actually really liked this frosting – and I don’t like frosting usually!
After frosting the cake I then covered it in coconut flakes and it was ready to go! Now, I am totally confident in my cookie and cupcake skills; but my cake skills are not at the level I would like them to be. But…this cake…it was beautiful! So beautiful, in fact, that I had to do a photo shoot with it. Yeah, I like it that much!
Jill was the final say on the taste of the cake – and I had to admit I was a bit nervous. She wanted a cake that replicated a cake she had in the South years ago. She has such found memories of this cake… the pressure was on! Upon tasting it, Jill said it wasn’t exactly the same as the cake she remembers- but, it was the closest she has ever had! I’ll take that as a win!!!
right turn ahead 