Coconut Lime Layer Cake-Toppled but Tasty

This is Paula's cake...and mine looked a lot like it, until I drove with it across town, grrr!


I was at the library and I spotted Paula Deen's magazine with this cake on the cover, and it just called to me! First, the cake was very tasty...although I did have a transportation disaster--mine didn't look quite magazine cover ready once I got it to the dinner party I was taking it to--I should have taken a picture BEFORE, oh well. (I give the recipe a bonus since extra coconut and frosting disguised most of the damage). I did make a few cupcakes with the leftover batter and I think I might do a whole batch next time!

Timeline:
Get out 5 sticks of butter to be softening for both the cake and the frosting.
You could make the cakes the day before and freeze them, or make them the morning of.
Make the frosting and frost the cooled cakes.
Refrigerate for an hour before trying to transport the assembled cake to a new location (if you are serving it at your house, then no worries!)
So this recipe used my KitchenAid stand mixer bowl, plus 2 bowls for separating the eggs and another bowl for the dry ingredients...whew, lots of dishes!

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy then add the egg yolks.

The final batter is very thick, even after folding in the egg whites.

There is enough batter for 3 layers and then some--but I only had 2 cake pans, so I had to do the first two, then the last one. The leftover batter I used in my mini cupcake pan and got 5 bite size cakes.

Even though I only filled each pan only about 1/2 full, it still rose really high in the middle, but as it cooled, it dropped (when I inverted the cake onto the cooling rack, it flattened even more). By the time I was ready to frost, I had 3 perfectly flat rounds. The recipe said 18-20 minutes, but the batter in the middle wasn't even close to done at that point, so I ended up going about 29 minutes.


This is my cake at the party AFTER the top layer completely slid off the top, the middle layer broke into 3 pieces and the bottom layer just fell apart! So, learn from my mistake--first, refrigerate the cake for about an hour before moving it...if the frosting isn't soft, it can't slide. Next, use skewers to keep everything in place. The good thing is that once I put it all back together and re-spread some frosting and smooshed more coconut on the sides, it looked pretty good. If you do refrigerate the cake, be sure to let it come to room temperature before serving...with all the butter and coconut milk, the cake gets very firm when cold.


From the March/April Paula Deen Magazine, pg 46

Coconut-Lime Cake

Makes 1 (9-inch, 3 layer) cake

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

2 cups Domino Granulated Sugar

5 Large Eggland's Best Eggs, separated

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( I used vanilla paste with bean seeds)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups coconut milk

1 cup buttermilk

Luscious Lime Frosting (recipe follows)

Coconut flakes for decorating (I used Nutty Guys, which I found at Dan's Foods)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray (9-inch) cake pans with nonstick baking spray with flour.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Add egg yolks and extracts,beating until combined.

3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. In a small bowl, combine coconut milk and buttermilk. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with coconut milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition.

5. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into batter. Spoon batter into prepared pans, and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. (Note: I needed almost 30 minutes for my cakes) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for

10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

6. Spread Luscious Lime Frosting between layers and on top and sides

of cake. Press coconut flakes around edge of cake. Garnish with fresh berries and lime slices; if desired. Chill until ready to serve.

Luscious Lime Frosting

Makes about 5 Cups

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon lime zest (pretty much all the zest on one lime)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (I got this out of 2 limes)

5 cups Domino Confectioners' Sugar

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. In a large bowl, beat butter, lime

zest, and lime juice at medium speed

with a mixer until combined. Gradually

add confectioners' sugar, beating until

smooth. Add whipped topping, beating

until combined. Lick fingers :)