coconut cake

It was Nate's birthday on Saturday, so Sunday evening we had a few friends over. He told me he wanted a coconut cake, and I was searching online for the best cake recipes I found one from epicurious that looked good. I got all the ingredients for the cake on Saturday, but then come Sunday afternoon I re-read the recipe and it said the cake took 3 hours to make. I didn't want to spend that much time making the cake (because I wanted to nap) so instead I used a yellow cake mix, with a couple small add-is. And I stuck with the frosting that the recipe called for.  I did however use shredded coconut instead of real coconuts, and instead of three layers, my cake was only two.

The cake turned out a little drier than I would have liked, but it was still good, and it was probably my own fault because I wasn't watching it/timing it closely. The frosting was a little runny, and I wasn't sure how to fix that, (also there was way too much) but it still tasted good, and even looked pretty too.

Here is a link to the recipe with Epicurious, if you want to make the actual thing. Otherwise, here is my recipe.

Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 stick of butter
water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract

Syrup
1 cup coconut
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar

Frosting/Filling
3 large egg whites
2 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 TBS light corn syrup
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag shredded coconut

cake
1. Preheat according to 375 (according to box)
2. Butter cake pan or spray with cooking spray.
3. Line bottoms of cake pans with parchment paper (I used waxed paper and cut it in circles) and spray paper.
4. Mix together cake mix, eggs, water and butter, according to directions on box.
5. Add in extracts, and mix together.
6. Pour cake mix evenly in pans.
7. Rap pans against the counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.
8. Bake cakes for 30-35 minutes, on upper rack (again, according to box)
9. Cool cakes in pans on racks 5 minutes.
10. Tun a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto racks.
11. Discard parchment and cool completely, about 1 hour ( I cooled in the fridge for about 30 minutes)

syrup
1. Simmer together coconut, water and sugar
2. Stir together until sugar has dissolved.
3. Blend for a few seconds (I did this just to make the coconut pieces a little smaller)
4. Set aside filling mix.
frosting/filling
1. Beat together egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Set bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat mixture at high speed until it holds stiff, glossy peaks, 5 to 3 minutes.
4. Remove bowl from heat and add vanilla.
5. Beat until frosting is cooled and very thick, 6 to 10 minutes. (like I said, mine never got super thick)
6.Transfer about 2 cups of frosting to another bowl and stir in 2 cups of coconut.
assembling cake
1. Put one layer of cake on a cake stand or large plate.
2. Brush top with one half of reserved coconut syrup.
3. Spread with half of filling (You could use all of it here, I put some on top too)
4. Put second layer or cake on top.
5. Brush top with remaining coconut syrup and spread with rest of filling.
6. Cover cake with frosting.
7. Put remaining shredded coconut on the entire cake, gently pressing to help it adhere.**

** I browned the coconut in the oven, stirring regularly to keep it from burning. This gave the cake a beautiful color, and made the coconut even more delicious.