Coconut Cake

June means it's birthday time in my family!  Last week was my dad's natal day, so I made him a dinner of his choosing as part of my gift.

For dessert, he picked an oh-so-delicious but slightly tricky coconut cake.  "Beware!" my friends said.  "The boiled icing will be your downfall."

But I'm here to tell you that if you watch your icing carefully and follow the directions semi-carefully, you'll be A-OK.  And you'll have a light cake that's not too overwhelming for summer (or anytime) celebrations.

Once again, the basis for this recipe comes from one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook.  My grandmother swore by it, and I've never made a cake from it that didn't turn out.

For the yellow ("silver") cake, you'll need:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

3 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cups butter, softened

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 unbeaten egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter two 8-inch layer-cake pans well.  You may also want to flour them a little to be absolutely sure the cake won't stick.

Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.  Add the softened butter and stir until creamy.

Pour in the water, milk, and vanilla extract.  Beat for about 2 minutes, or until well combined.

Add the 4 unbeaten egg whites.  Beat for another 2 minutes, but be sure not to over-beat.  As soon as it seems combined, you should stop, otherwise you'll get a tough cake.

Evenly pour the batter into the two pans.  Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let rest for about 10 minutes, then invert cake layers onto a rack to finish cooling.

Now it's time for the semi-scary part: The cooked icing.  NO FEAR.

You'll need:

1/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/3 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 1/2 tsp. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

2 2/3 dried flake coconut (one bag)

In a medium saucepan, mix together the sugar, flour, and salt.  Add the milk, then bring to a boil over low heat.  Make sure you stir the ENTIRE time.  This is, I am led to believe, the crucial difference between a successful and unsuccessful cooked icing.  Vigilance.  Let the mixture boil for about 1 minute—You will notice the texture of the mixture change dramatically and it will become quite viscous.  Remove from heat.

Add a little bit of the mixture into the egg to bring it to temperature (so that it doesn't become scrambled when you add it, yuck).  Pour back into the saucepan and return the mixture to the boiling point over low heat.  Once it comes to a boil again, remove from heat and add in the butter and vanilla.

Let the mixture cool a bit, then place about 1/3 of the mixture into a separate bowl.  Stir in about 3/4 cup coconut.  Spread this coconut-icing mixture between the two layers of cake, then stick them together.

After they are together, take an icing spatula and coat the top and sides of the cake evenly with icing.  It should look something like this:

Then take your remaining coconut and evenly press it onto the icing.  Then it should look something like this:

And that's it.  Let it come to room temperature, then serve.

Happy eating!  And happy birthday, Dad!