Coconut Cake – Happy Birthday Daddy!

    Although I have no idea why, I hated coconut as a child.  My brother and mother were not big fans of it either, but my dad loved it.  Every year someone in our family makes my dad a coconut cake for his birthday.  Many years, my aunt would be the one to do this.  However, over the last few years, as my love of cooking and baking has grown, I have been the one to make coconut desserts for my dad.  Last year it was a coconut pie and the year before that it was a coconut sheet cake.  This year, I decided to try Ina Garten’s Coconut Cake – a double layer, butter cream frosted cake sprinkled with shredded coconut.  It was a hit.  My dad’s birthday falls the day after Christmas.  We normally have his favorite meal - my mother’s Hamburger Noodle Casserole, Tossed Salad, and Coconut Cake.  The hamburger noodle casserole is a far stretch from a healthy meal, which is the main reason Mama only makes it once a year.  It is made up of egg noodles, ground beef, onions, Campbell’s condensed tomato soup, tomato sauce, and smothered in shredded cheddar cheese.  Coconut Cake was a sweet way to end Dad’s Italian inspired birthday lunch. 

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients

For the cake:

·         Coconut oil, for greasing the pans

·         ¾ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

·         2 cups sugar

·         5 large eggs, at room temperature

·         1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

·         3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pans

·         1 teaspoon baking powder

·         ½ teaspoon baking soda

·         ½ teaspoon kosher salt

·         1 cup milk

·         4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting:

·         ½ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature

·         1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature

·         1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

·         1 pound confectioners’ sugar

·         6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

Directions

1.      To make the cake:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease two 9-inch cake pans with coconut oil.  Line each cake pan with parchment paper and brush the parchment paper with coconut oil.  Dust each parchment paper lined pan with flour.  Set aside.

2.      On medium-high speed, cream together the butter and sugar in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, about 4 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time.  Add the vanilla bean paste.  With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and milk, alternating between the two and beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix until the batter is just combined.  Fold in the coconut.  Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans.  Bake for 30 to 35, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Leave the cakes in the pan to cool on a rack for 30 minutes.  Turn the cakes out of the pan and cool completely on rack.     

3.      To make the frosting:  In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla bean paste on low speed.  Very slowly, add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Do not whip the icing. 

4.      To assemble the cake:  Place one layer, top side down, on a flat plate.  Spread the frosting on evenly.  Place the second layer on top of the first layer, top side up.  Frost the top layer and the sides.  Gently press the coconut into the frosting.  Serve the cake at room temperature. 

Cook’s notes:  

·         You may use butter to grease the cake pans, instead of coconut oil.  

·         I used salted butter in the cake batter because that was all I had on hand at the time. 

·         Ina’s original recipe calls for both almond and vanilla extract.  I didn’t feel like paying $5.00 for a tiny bottle of almond extract, so I substituted vanilla bean paste instead.  Vanilla extract may be substituted for vanilla bean paste. 

·         Although I was very unsure about this particular ingredient, I used Bird’s Eye frozen shredded coconut.  I let the coconut defrost overnight in the refrigerator.  The ingredients on the bag were coconut and sugar, so I assumed it was sweetened coconut.  It worked out just fine.  

Fresh Peach Cake

Recipe courtesy of Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?

  

Ingredients

• ¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
• 1 ½ cups sugar, divided
  
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  
• 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 3 large, ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced or 16 ounces frozen peaches, defrosted
  
• ½ cup chopped pecans (optional)
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 – inch square baking pan.
   
2. In the bowl of a heavy duty mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Decrease the speed of the mixer to low. Add the eggs one at a time, then the sour cream and the vanilla. Beat until combined. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter. Mix until just combined. In a small bowl combine the cinnamon and remaining ½ cup of sugar.
   
3. Spread half of the batter in the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Top with half of the sliced peaches and sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar. Repeat the process. Sprinkle with chopped pecans if desired. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes (mine took closer to 55 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie Cookie Cake ~ Happy Birthday Christopher!

Recipe based upon the Sweet Touch and Pennies on a Platter

  

Ingredients

• Use the same ingredients from this recipe - Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies
  

 
Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
   
2. Line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and lightly mist with cooking spray. Press the prepared cookie batter into the bottom of the pans. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the center of each cookie cake is set. Let the cakes cool for 5 minutes. Then transfer to wire racks and cool completely.
   
3. Once the cakes have cooled, frost the top of one layer with cream filling. Place the other layer on top of the frosted layer. Serve as is or decorate with additional icing if desired.

Happy Birthday Christopher!  Thank you for always making me laugh!

Happy Birthday Mama ~ Claire’s Dark Chocolate Cake

Recipe adapted from Basic to Brilliant, Y'all

  

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for sprinkling the pans
  
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 3 cups sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
  
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
  
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  
• 3 large eggs
  
• 1 ½ cups warm water
  
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk
  
• ¾ cup canola oil
  
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  
• Chocolate Ganache frosting
  
  • 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
    
  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
    
  • 2 cups heavy cream
    
  • ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    
  • 1/6 teaspoon kosher salt
    

Directions

1. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 – 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Spray with butter flavored cooking spray and dust lightly with cocoa powder.
   
2. In a heavy duty mixer, stir together the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt, and ginger until just combined. Then, with the mixer on the lowest setting, add the eggs, water, buttermilk, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until the batter is smooth. Divide the batter among the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in pans about 15 minutes. Then move to wire racks and cool completely. Wrap each individual cake layer in saran wrap and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
   
3. For the frosting: Pour the semisweet and bittersweet chocolate chips in a medium sized, heatproof bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once bubbles begin to form on the side of the pan, off the heat. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Pour the cream mixture on top of the chocolate chips. Let mixture sit for 3 minutes. Then stir the cream and chocolate together until the frosting is completely smooth. Place the frosting in the refrigerator to cool, stirring every 20 minutes, until it reaches a spreadable consistency, about 1 ½ hours.
   
4. Frosting the cake: Unwrap each chilled cake layer. For the bottom cake layers, use 1 cup of frosting per layer. The top layer and sides will require the remaining frosting. Decorate with additional sprinkles or colorful icing if desired. Yields 3 – 9 inch cake layers.