Old Fashioned Coconut Cake

When I was a little over a year old, I met a new-born girl, and we became fast friends. We basically grew up together, and spent a lot of time at each other's houses over the years. Her mom was an amazing cook, and I always looked forward to her birthday parties for the food and cake alone! Several times, her mom graced our tastebuds with the most amazing coconut cake I'd ever had. Ever since then, I have been seeking out a coconut cake as incredible as this one. Sure, I could ask her for recipe, but...

Anyway, so when I saw an episode of Good Eats (I <3 Alton Brown and all his knowledge) that was solely dedicated to the long-lost old fashioned coconut cake, I became aglow with inspiration! For the past week, I have been soaking and fermenting my own home made coconut milk, coconut cream, and coconut extract -- all made with the fresh coconut that I cracked, drained, and shredded myself!

Needless to say, today was a long time coming. The recipe called for cake flour, and so I had to improvise with a gluten-free cake flour mixture that I'd never tried before. I was very pleased with the way the cakes came out, though. Fluffy and moist, and very flat across the top. I didn't even have to even out a bump across the top or anything!

I'd never made 7-minute frosting before, so this was a first, and I'm pretty pleased with the result. It's basically a rather soft version of Italian meringue, which is okay, but not really my thing. The cake went together really well, though, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out! The cake is soft, fluffy, and moist - but a tad bit gritty, which is disappointing. My parents swear that they LOVE the texture of the cake, and that it's got the perfect amount of sweetness. Personally, I felt it was a bit TOO sweet, but apparently I have really sensitive taste buds.



I had planned to put some lime curd in the middle, but forgot about it until it was too late to make any. Next time, I will definitely be including that element, though, as I think the tartness of it will offset the sweetness of the cake and frosting nicely. Overall, it was tasty, but not really what I was hoping for (that is to say, it's not really like the one my friend's mom used to make).

Please excuse that last photo. The cake had gotten kind of warm and the frosting was wilting a bit. :P

If you're interested, I pretty much followed this guide for the entire cake.