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** 

Brown Butter/Cream Cheese topped Carrot Cupcakes

Carrot cake is a classic favorite, yet because of the spices used I have always reserved it for the fall or winter time.  However, when I saw this particular recipe, I had no reservations to delay it until fall. Between the addition of the browned butter to the frosting and the use of curry in the batter, I would have to say this far from your grandma's recipe for carrot cupcakes.  As a food blogger, I try to go beyond the traditional and strive for something new and different.   After all, there is a reason for 31 flavors of ice cream-it would be a sad thing to just have a choice of vanilla, chocolate or strawberry!

This recipe makes 1 dozen cupcakes and be sure to plan for the 8 hours of chilling time for the batter.

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Topped Carrot Cupcakes
adapted from Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients/Cupcakes
8 egg whites (room temp)
1 3/4 stick or 14 tbs of butter
1 cup finely shredded carrot
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp curry powder
3/4 cup cake flour
1 cup almond flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

Ingredients/Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup powdered sugar (sifted after measuring)
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup or 2 sticks of butter
1 lb of cream cheese (softened)
2 tsp vanilla extract
sparkling or crystal white sugar (optional)

To make the cupcakes, melt the butter in a small saucepan on low heat.  Once melted, increase heat to medium and let cook, stirring periodically.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the butter turns a golden brown.  Remove and pour into a heatproof bowl and let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar and almond flour.  Set aside.  In a smaller bowl, sift the cake flour, spices (cinnamon, ginger, curry) salt and baking powder together.  Then add this to the brown sugar/almond flour mixture and stir until is evenly distributed.

Pour in the egg whites and blend with a wooden spoon.  Once blended, measure out approx one fourth of the batter and add it to the cooled brown butter.  Whisk together until smooth.  Pour the batter/brown butter mixture back into the original batter and mix together. Lastly, fold in the shredded carrot.

Cover and refrigerate batter for at least 8 hours or overnight.  Once the batter has been completely chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease the top edge of the muffin cavities and line with cupcake liners.

Fill the cavities with the batter, using a bit less than 1/2 cup of batter per cavity.  Place pan in oven and bake until tester comes out clean.  Cupcakes should be done and golden brown on top in about 25 to 28 minutes. Remove when done and let pan rest on wire rack to cool.  Remove cupcakes once cool and let sit on wire rack until ready to frost.

For the frosting, brown the butter in same manner as stated in the cupcake recipe.  Set aside and let cool to room temperature.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together all the other ingredients except the sparkling white sugar.  It should take about 2 minutes on medium high for all ingredients to be blended.  Then turn down the mixer to medium low speed and continue to beat while pouring a steady slow stream of the brown butter.  Once all the brown butter has been added, beat for 30 seconds and then scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Beat for another 30 seconds.  Then the frosting is ready to use.

Frost the cupcakes as desired.  Also, the recipe suggests turning the cupcakes upside down and rolling the frosted top in a bowl of crystal sugar.

Tips and Notes:
1. Just under 1/2 cup of batter almost fills the cupcake cavity to the top, but this is ok because the cupcakes do not rise very much.
2. Room temperature is important when it comes to the eggs and brown butter, your mixtures will blend together easier and better.
3. The amount of salt may seem like a lot for the frosting but that is what gives it the salty sweet flavor combo. However if you are using table salt and not kosher only use half the amount stated.
4. Due to the crystal sugar topping, I wanted a stiffer frosting to work with so I let it chill for about 20 minutes before frosting.
                                    **LAST YEAR: Apple Butterscotch Bundt Cake**