Time: For the cake, 20 minutes to make the batter, 45 minutes to bake the cake, and 2 hours to cool it. For the frosting, about 20 minutes, plus 90 minutes for the pudding to cool. Thirty minutes to assemble the cake, including 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
There are cakes, and then there are legacy cakes. Legacy cakes convey a sense of place and stature in local history. In the South—particularly, in Charleston—coconut cake is the indisputable legacy cake, having earned and held its reputation for generations.
Coconut cakes certainly have the physical stature of legacy cakes. They are towering creatures—layered, frosted, and coiffed to incandescence with fleecy coconut. They are also faintly dizzy with sugar. If you are familiar with the vibrating sugar and butter zing that grabs the back of the palette and glands in the throat just as cake and frosting converge on the brink of a swallow, you'll know that coconut cake offers this sensation in spades. It is a sensation we enjoy...to a point. But coconut cake can go too far and actually trip the nausea switch. Nausea switch notwithstanding, we chose sweetened coconut. Coconut cake wants a moist, quenching environment. Unsweetened coconut was simply too dry and unfoodlike in the context of a cake—and fresh coconut was way too much trouble.
Coconut cake is all about coconut, of course. But a preoccupation with coconut flavor invites excess, in our opinion. We didn't want each element of the cake to be burdened by a single flavor dimension, especially an outspoken ingredient like coconut. The cake went to vanilla. We dabbled with coconut curd and coconut flavored frosting between the layers, yet these, too, were ultimately unsatisfying. Toasted coconut and frosting was the best between-layer combination—it didn't get better than that.
And speaking of frosting, we chose German buttercream. The historically correct companion to red velvet cake, German buttercream is pudding-based: milk, flour, and sugar cooked together (into a bouillie), cooled, and beaten into whipped butter. Though arguably less refined than its French or Italian variants, German buttercream is the lightest of all, with restrained sweetness and a texture that is almost fluffy. Its production, however, can be tricky. We've had a fair number of German buttercreams blow up on us in the past, to be honest. So we put some real attention into the proportion, ingredients (we ended up with cornstarch in lieu of flour), and execution of this buttercream to come up with a foolproof formula. It's dead easy to make and a perfect complement to both the cake and the coconut.
But the real hero of this cake is Anson Mills White Lamas Cake Flour. We worked with this flour in our angel food cake, but applying it in a butter cake recipe was altogether different. Butter cake is what Americans usually mean when they say cake, and we're compelled to tell you we've simply not tasted a butter cake comparable to this one. It has a plush, velvety crumb, and a flavor that is pure step-back-in-time. Anson Mills White Lamas Cake Flour is the only cake flour on the market that is processed by hand without bleach. Just imagine what that does for a cake.
Equipment Mise en Place
For the cake, you will need a digital scale; a fine-mesh sieve; parchment or waxed paper; a stand mixer fitted with the flat-beater attachment; a whisk; a paring knife or chef's knife; two 2-cup liquid measuring cups (or 1 measuring cup and 1 small pitcher or other vessel with a spout); 2 sturdy 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch sides; a rubber spatula; a small offset spatula; and a wire cooling rack.
For the frosting, you will need a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan; a whisk; a heatproof rubber spatula; a small bowl; and a stand mixer fitted with the flat-beater attachment.
To prepare the coconut for assembly and finishing, you will need 2 parchment paper—lined baking sheets; a metal spatula; a small bowl: and a food processor.
To assemble the cake, you will need a serrated knife to cut the cake into layers; an 8-inch cardboard cake round; a metal icing spatula; and a sheet pan to toast the coconut for the filling. Like all layer cakes, this cake will slice more neatly if you have an electric knife.
Ingredients
for the cake:
10 ounces Anson Mills White Lamas Cake Flour, plus additional for dusting the cake pans
10 ounces superfine sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
5.2 ounces cold unsalted European-style butter, plus additional for greasing the pans
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
8 ounces (by weight) whole milk, room temperature
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
for the frosting:
9 ounces (1 ¼ cups) superfine sugar
1.1 ounces (4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon) cornstarch
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
15.5 ounces (by weight) cold whole milk
2 teaspoons coconut extract or vanilla extract
12.5 ounces (25 tablespoons) unsalted European-style butter, room temperature
for assembly:
10 ½ ounces (4 ½ cups, loosely packed) sweetened shredded coconut
Directions
1. Make the cake: Weigh the flour and sift it onto a sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Turn the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine. Cut the cold butter into little pieces, add them to the flour, and toss to coat (View Photo. Click on photo to close) . Set aside until the butter has softened completely and the flour has lost its chill.
2. Place a 2-cup liquid measuring cup on a digital scale. Crack the whole eggs and separate the yolk into the measuring cup. The mixture should weigh 4 ounces; if it weighs more, beat the eggs with a fork and pour or spoon enough until they weigh exactly 4 ounces. Weigh out the milk separately. Add the ¼ cup of milk to the egg mixture along with the vanilla, whisk to combine, and set aside both aside.
3. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter two sturdy 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch sides. Sprinkle the pans with flour, tilting them to coat the bottom and sides, then knock out the excess. Set the pans aside.
4. With the mixer running on low speed, combine the butter and flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (View Photo ), about 2 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium and add the milk in a steady stream. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed to develop structure. With the mixer running on medium-low speed, add the egg mixture in three additions, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each. As soon as all of the ingredients have been incorporated, detach the bowl from the mixer and fold the batter lightly with the rubber spatula. The batter will be smooth and shiny, and look slightly broken (View Photo ).
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly, and smooth the surfaces with a small offset spatula (there will be about 18 ounces of batter per pan), banking the batter slightly around the edges and leaving the center slightly depressed. Drop each pan on the counter to distribute the batter. Bake until the cakes are nicely risen, golden brown on the edges, and spring back gently when you touch the top of the cakes, about 35 minutes. Let the cakes cool in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the rack to cool. When they have cooled for 30 minutes, turn them right side up and let them cool completely, about 2 hours.
6. Make the frosting base: While the cakes are cooling, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and whisk well. Whisk in the cold milk. Cook over medium-high heat, alternately whisking and stirring with a heatproof rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer the pudding for 20 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat (View Photo ) and scrape the pudding into a small bowl. Cover flush with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour.
7. Prepare the coconut: Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Spread 3 ½ ounces (1 ½ cups, loosely packed) of the coconut for the filling on a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet. Separate the flakes with your fingers, rubbing away any coconut lumps. Toast until golden brown, turning with a metal spatula, 20 to 25 minutes. While the smaller amount of coconut is toasting, spread the remaining coconut on a second parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet. Separate the flakes with your fingers, rubbing away any lumps. When the small batch of coconut is toasted, remove the baking sheet from the oven and set it aside to cool. Turn off the oven and place the untoasted coconut in the oven to dry until you're ready to assemble the cake.
8. Finish the frosting: Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat-beater attachment and beat on medium speed until very light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl once or twice (View Photo ). Add the coconut or vanilla extract, mix to combine, and scrape down the bowl. With the mixer running on low speed, add the cooled pudding (View Photo ) a few tablespoons at a time, scraping down the bowl occasionally, until all the pudding is incorporated and the buttercream is smooth and fluffy. Transfer the frosting to a smaller bowl for ease (View Photo ).
9. Crush the toasted coconut into fine pieces between your palms, turn it into a small bowl, and set it aside. Remove the coconut from the oven (it should be dry, but not browned). Turn it into a food processor and process it until the coconut shreds are fine and plump. Turn the coconut back onto the baking sheet and set it aside.
10. Assemble the cake: Cut each cake layer in half horizontally with a serrated knife, reserving the 2 flat bottom layers for the top and bottom layers of the frosted cake. Drop a dollop of buttercream onto an 8-inch cardboard cake round and set a flat bottom layer on top, crust side down. Using an icing spatula, apply a generous amount of frosting to the layer (about ½ cup), then sprinkle with one-third of the toasted coconut (View Photo ). Top with a second layer and press gently to secure. Frost and sprinkle with toasted coconut. Frost and sprinkle coconut on the third layer, then top with the final flat layer of cake (View Photo ).
Slide the icing spatula under the cake round and pull the cake to the edge of the counter. Balance the cake on the palm of your non-dominant hand and apply a thin crumb coat of frosting onto the top and sides of the cake, frosting to the edge of the cake round (View Photo ). Refrigerate the cake until the crumb coat sets, about 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and frost the cake with the remaining frosting (View Photo ). Hold the cake over the baking sheet containing the coconut and use your free hand to gently press coconut into the sides and on top of the cake, allowing what doesn't adhere to fall back onto the baking sheet, until the sides are evenly covered (View Photo ). Sprinkle the top of the cake with coconut and press lightly all around to secure. Chill the cake slightly before serving.
Makes one 8-inch (4-layer) cake
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