Lime in the Coconut Cake

This particular cake gets a lot of its flavor from the glaze.  The coconut lime glaze is actually put on both sides of each layer.  In addition to that, you poke holes to further insure that the great flavor seeps in.The actual cake only has coconut extract and coconut milk in it.  It has good texture and taste but it is very plain tasting without the glaze and frosting, so those additions should not be skipped.

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** 

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

This particular recipe turned out to be a lesson in texture.  Whole wheat used in a recipe equates to dense and heavy, in my mind.  However, these were 50 percent whole wheat pastry flour and 50 percent regular flour, so I thought that they would be lighter. The mixture did result in a dense cupcake.  I prefer a lighter cupcake, so a repeat of this recipe would be a change to using cake flour.

As far as the flavor, the special ingredient of dried coconut milk was not very evident in the cupcake. It turned out to be a better addition for the frosting, which did have a coconut taste.  I like the flavor combo of coconut and chocolate, but I still feel that this recipe could be tweaked some to improve the flavor intensity and the texture.

Also, the recipe states to let the cupcakes rest 10 minutes in the pan after baking.  My cupcakes came loose from the paper liners and had to be transferred to clean paper liners.  So there is some adjustments needed in this area as well. The cupcakes should not cool in the pans and the liners should have been filled more.

Below is the recipe in its original form without changes. It was a section in the magazine that was promoting the use of whole grains in recipes.  This particular recipe makes approximately 20 cupcakes.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
adapted from Bon Appetit / Feb 2008

Ingredients/ Cupcakes
5 eggs
2 tbs milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 drops coconut flavoring or 3/4 tsp coconut extract
1 1/4 cups butter
3 oz cream cheese
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup coconut milk powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups miniature  semis sweet chocolate chips (11 oz)

Ingredients/ Frosting
1/2 cup coconut milk powder
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 drops coconut flavoring or 1/2 tsp coconut extract
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbs or more of milk
flaked sweetened coconut (optional for topping)

Prepare muffin tins by lining 20 cavities with paper liners.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, sift together the powdered coconut milk, flour, pastry flour, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.  In a second bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until there are no more lumps.  Beat in 1/2 cup of sugar and repeat 2 more times with the remaining sugar.  Then add the coconut flavoring and vanilla extract.

Pour in the dry ingredients and stir until blended.  Add one egg and beat for 30 seconds.  Repeat the process of adding and beating for each of the remaining eggs.  Once smooth,  beat in the milk.  Then fold in the chocolate chips until evenly disbursed through out the batter.  Then fill the prepared muffin cavities 2/3 full of batter.

Bake until tester comes out clean, which is about 22 minutes.  Let the cupcakes rest in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.

As the cupcakes cool, create the frosting.  In a medium size bowl, add coconut milk powder, butter and salt.  Beat for about 45 seconds on medium speed, occassionally scraping down the sides of the bowl.  Add vanilla extract and coconut flavor or extract.  Mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds so the flavor is incorporated into the batter. 

Sift in 1 cup of powdered sugar to the butter mixture and beat until no dry streaks remain.  Repeat this process until all the powdered sugar has been mixed into the butter batter.  The beat in the milk in increments of 1 tablespoon until it reaches the desired consistency.

Spread frosting or pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.  If desired, sprinkle sweetened coconut on top.

Tips and Notes:
1. Even if using 2 pans, bake all at the same time so the batter does not sit and rise in the bowl while your first pan is baking.

2.  Also 20 is an odd number since muffin tins are in multiples of six and 12 cavity capacity.  Before baking, fill the empty muffin cavities with water. By filling with water, you have a more weight stable pan and it keeps your muffin tin cavities from discoloration.

3. If you are not using a scoop for the batter and use a spoon, tap your pan on the counter to get the air out of the batter before baking.
                                        **THREE YEARS AGO: Citrus Sri Lanka Cookies**