Put a Lime in Your Coconut Cake

The 30 Day Baking Challenge I set myself to continues, and while everything I bake won’t make it’s way to the blog (’cause I’m not that kind of blogger… you only get the good stuff �?� ) I do still have my hands on ingredients and I’m in the kitchen daily.

And MAN has it felt good to get back in here! This is where I love to be, and creating new things gets easier and easier the more I play. And this cake is no exception. It caused a curiosity and a need to experiment with what seems like a small part of the whole thing: the curd.

I can’t help but focus on the curd first because it just needed something else. I was making the frosting after having baked the cake (which came out so darn good!!!) and was chatting with the other half of Aaron & Kara (Aaron McInnis of Man versus Cake) and he said lime curd. Well, I didn’t have fresh limes to make curd which got under my skin a bit. It was a perfect idea, but I also didn’t want it to take away from the main show: coconut.

Now I wanted lime. And I wanted curd. I could do both, however, they would have to be separate… I’m not one to compromise but it was required this time. I had Amoretti’s Natural Lime flavoring on hand so I added a bit of that to my Bright White Frosting recipe along with some coconut extract. Perfect! The coconut and lime together balanced perfectly!

But now to the curd… I didn’t want it to be lime after all. That would be too strong and would overpower this glorious coconut cake recipe I just whipped up. While I was shopping for this cake I picked up a single can of coconut milk because I was sure how I was going to put things together so I got all the coconut things.

It’s not intentional… It’s just how I shop all the time. It’s a bad habit. The UPS and FedEx and Postal Service delivery men had a conference and told me so the day they all showed up at the same time to bring me packages. True story.

Back to the curd. I had this can of coconut milk so I figured it would be a good tester and IT WAS! I decided to follow a new method of “curding”… Using my microwave. Scary, those things can zap the living bejeezus out of things and eggs?!? I gave it a try anyways.

It. Was. Fabulous. There was one thing that I couldn’t get past, though: the yellow hue to it. Granted, it didn’t really bother me, but I knew it might put some people off as it’s coconut. Which is white. So back to the experimenting table I went and decided to try a yolk-free version.

It’s kind of brilliant if I do say so myself! And it’s a creamy white 🙂 Perfect for this cake! I was proud of me. Also, I had an entire jar of yellow coconut curd to eat by itself. I have a curd problem. Don’t judge.

Anywhoo. It worked and I was glad. I got my curd, I got my lime (or I got Aaron’s curd and lime, credit where credit is due) and I got happy. 🙂

And can we just talk about that cake for a sec? It’s got more oil in the recipe than I typically use and I was worried it might be “greasy”. Oh no. No, it’s it’s not. It’s soft, delicate, FLUFFY (and I’m not a fluffy cake fan, or at least I wasn’t) and stays beautifully moist! And if you bake this with cake strips around the pan it will bake up even and not need trimming off the top. Easy peasy, lime squeezy!

And then I offered my dad some cake. He lives just around the corner and he’s a big coconut fan. And butterscotch. I did consider it and then decided against combining them… this time at least. So I called him up all excited that I had his favorite cake flavor out of the clear blue and wanted to bring some to him!

And he declined. He didn’t want lime �? I got sad. And then worried. Because now I have waaaaaayyyyyy too much cake sitting in my fridge and it’s yummy. I pawned some off on my brother and his girlfriend. She’s skinny - she can use some calories. But more of this might end up in my face. And on my hips.

Before I unleash the recipe I have to tell you about those fun lime green swirls on the cake 🙂 It’s just a half cup of the frosting with a touch of green gel food color added, dabbed on in spots and then scraped around just like when you’re finishing the outside of a cake. Let it do its own thing and streak and get all watercolor-y. It’s pretty! And if you want a more refined finish might I suggest my Gourmet Pina Colada Fondant recipe? This would be like sitting on a sandy beach, sipping on tropical drinks and toasting in the sun!

Light, Fluffy, and Tender Coconut Cake

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Votes: 2 Rating: 4.5 You: Rate this recipe!

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This coconut cake is the lightest, fluffiest, and moistest (yep, it's now a word) coconut cake you'll find! Full of flavor because it uses real, rich coconut milk and good quality natural extracts. Try it with a bit of shredded coconut... or not. 🙂

• CourseCake

Servings	Prep Time
16 - 20 slices	20 minutes

Cook Time

60 minutes

Servings Prep Time 16 - 20 slices 20 minutes

Cook Time 60 minutes

Light, Fluffy, and Tender Coconut Cake Yum Votes: 2 Rating: 4.5 You: Rate this recipe! Print Recipe This coconut cake is the lightest, fluffiest, and moistest (yep, it's now a word) coconut cake you'll find! Full of flavor because it uses real, rich coconut milk and good quality natural extracts. Try it with a bit of shredded coconut... or not. 🙂 CourseCake Servings Prep Time 16 - 20 slices 20 minutes Cook Time 60 minutes Servings Prep Time 16 - 20 slices 20 minutes Cook Time 60 minutes

Ingredients

• 5 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup Butter, Unsalted softened
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon Amoretti Coconut Extract or good quality extract
• 1/2 teaspoon bourbon vanilla bean paste or extract
• 2-1/4 cups Cake flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water, warm
• 2 packages Coconut Milk Powder
• 1 Tbsp vinegar, white
• 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut chopped (optional)
• Pinch cream of tartar

Servings: slices

Units:MetricUS Imperial

Instructions

1. Soak eggs in warm water for 5 minutes
2. Soak baking strips in cold water. Preheat oven to 325°F.
3. Separate eggs being careful to not get any yolks in the whites
4. Mix two packages of coconut milk powder with 1 cup warm water and whisk. Add 1 Tbsp. vinegar and whisk again. Set aside.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer (with a hand mixer) beat sugar, butter and oil until light and fluffy. Beat in the yolks, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. Add extracts and mix well.
6. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and add to creamed mixture alternately with the thickened coconut milk, beginning and ending with the flour mix. Beat well and scrape the bowl after each addition. Add shredded coconut if desired.
7. Using a whip attachment add cream of tartar to egg whites and on medium until stiff peaks form. Fold a fourth of the egg whites into batter, then fold in remaining whites.
8. Transfer to three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Creamy Coconut Lime Frosting

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Votes: 1 Rating: 5 You: Rate this recipe!

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This creamy whipped coconut lime frosting is the perfect complimet to my Coconut Cake! The hint of lime brightens the rich coconut and adds a great pop of flavor! Make a 1/2 cup of this frost lime green and create a fun watercolor effect on the cake!

• CourseButtercream

Servings	Prep Time
7-8 cups	15 minutes

Servings Prep Time 7-8 cups 15 minutes

Creamy Coconut Lime Frosting Yum Votes: 1 Rating: 5 You: Rate this recipe! Print Recipe This creamy whipped coconut lime frosting is the perfect complimet to my Coconut Cake! The hint of lime brightens the rich coconut and adds a great pop of flavor! Make a 1/2 cup of this frost lime green and create a fun watercolor effect on the cake! CourseButtercream Servings Prep Time 7-8 cups 15 minutes Servings Prep Time 7-8 cups 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups Butter unsalted, room temp
• 1.5 cups Crisco Trex/Sweetex
• 2 lbs confectioners'/powdered sugar approximately 8 cups
• 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Amoretti Coconut Extract
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons Amoretti Key Lime Flavor
• 1/4 tsp salt

Servings: cups

Units:MetricUS Imperial

Instructions

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter, Crisco, and salt until well combined.
2. While the fats are mixing, sift all of the confectioners' sugar.
3. Add the confectioners' sugar to the butter/shortening mixture half at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions. Pulse the mixer on and off quickly after adding confections sugar to prevent it exploding all of the kitchen.
4. Beat on high speed for 1 minute.
5. Scrape down the bowl and add flavorings (vanilla and coconut) and turn mixer to medium speed.
6. Pour the cream slowly down the side of the mixer while it is whipping.
7. Turn speed up to medium-high and whip for 5 minutes, until very light in color and airy.
8. Optional: add lime green gel paste food color to 1/2 cup to make watercolor designs.

Recipe Notes

This is the green gel paste food coloring I used in this recipe: http://amzn.to/2rJgXVm

And if you're an Amazon junkie like me and want to add the extract version of the lime flavoring (it is different from what I used above) you can get it here: http://amzn.to/2s1nlVa

This recipe is adapted from Gretchen's Bakery.

Enjoy 🙂