Regarding the recipe itself, it had an error in which the correction note was made after a few reviews came in- the coconut oil was actually supposed to be coconut extract. I have made the correction in the ingredient list and instructions below.
Yet, there are still a few questions. Both are regarding "sweetened ingredients". The recipe listed shredded coconut and coconut milk. Each of those ingredients have a sweetened or unsweetened version. Without the answers, I proceeded with 1/2 sweetened and 1/2 unsweetened for the shredded coconut and unsweetened instead of sweetened coconut milk. A lot of the comments were that the cake was very sweet, so those bakers make have gone "full force" on the sweetened.
Another discovery was that there was way too much glaze. The glaze makes over 2 full cups, which is a lot. A glaze should be thin and flow over the cake and dry, not be thick and make a filling by itself. I chose to use half of the recipe. Another issue with the glaze is that there is a choice to use sour cream or yogurt. The sour cream is a thicker consistency than yogurt, so if I make this again I will use yogurt.
Other than those few adjustments, the recipe has tasty results. Note that the recipe below does not have any of the adjustments as noted in the 3rd and 4th paragraph above. How sweet and how much glaze should be your preference, but bear in mind that the more glaze the longer it will take to dry before frosting. Without it drying you will be mixing the glaze with the frosting as you frost the cake.
Lime in the Coconut Cake
adapted from Doreen Howarth found via Food Network
Ingredients/Cake
1 cup coconut milk
4 eggs
1 cup butter
1 tsp coconut extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Ingredients/Glaze
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 cup sour cream or yogurt
1 cup shredded coconut
zest and juice only of 2 limes
1 cup sugar
Ingredients/Frosting
1 lb box plus 1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut milk
4 oz cream cheese
2 cups shredded coconut (optional for covering top and sides after frosting)
To begin, grease the interior of 2 nine inch round cake pans. Then line the bottoms of the interior with parchment paper and grease the face up side. Dust the interior of each cake pan with flour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
For the cake batter, add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat for 1 full minute, so it has a fluffy consistency. Pull out a small bowl and add one egg. Pour in 1/2 tsp coconut extract. Using a fork, scramble the egg in the bowl and then add to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Do the same with the second egg. For the 3rd and the fourth egg, add each (one at a time) directly to the batter and beat each into batter for 30 seconds. Set aside.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium size bowl. Add 1/3 of the sifted ingredients to the batter and stir with a wooden spoon until all is blended. Then mix in 1/2 cup of coconut milk. Stir in 1/2 of the remaining sifted ingredients. Once smooth, add another 1/2 cup of coconut milk. Lastly, blend the rest of the sifted ingredients into the batter.
Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. It measures out to a total of about 5 cups, so 2 1/2 cups per pan should be about right. My batter was fairly thick, so I took a spatula to smooth out the top. Place filled pans in oven and bake until a tester comes out clean, between 25-28 minutes.
Once baked, remove pans and place pans on cooling rack placed over a baking sheet. Let cakes cool in pans for about 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto cooling rack and then peel off parchment paper. Cake will need to cool completely before proceeding.
To make glaze, mix all ingredients in one bowl until fully combined. Then poke holes in each of the layers of cooled cake. Spread glaze on tops of each cake. Let the glaze completely dry before proceeding. This should take anywhere from 1-3 hours. Once dried, invert cakes and repeat, poking holes and then spreading rest of glaze over top of cakes. Cover cakes with cake domes and place in refrigerator for 2 hours. When ready, the glaze should be set and no longer sticky.
The last part is the frosting. Cream together the shortening, butter and cream cheese until smooth. Then sift in the powdered sugar in increments of 1 cup, beating on low to blend after each addition. After all the powdered sugar is mixed in, add the coconut milk and extract. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Then frost the surface of one of the layers and stack the other on top. Frost the top and sides as normal. Lastly, you may opt to cover the surface of the frosted cake with sweetened coconut.
**LAST YEAR:Cream Bruleed Chocolate Bundt**