I hesitate to include this coconut cake as a new recipe because I used boxed cake mix and canned frosting. But, had I not been trying to branch out, I probably wouldn’t have made it on my own. Trying new recipes was also a good excuse to properly outfit my kitchen and this was no different as I purchased two sturdy 9-inch round pans by Wilton for the two layers. And it was truly the first time I topped a layer cake with shredded coconut.
I actually made this favorite non-chocolate dessert of mine twice, first on Thursday, March 12th (I needed shortcuts on a weeknight!) and then on Easter Sunday morning to contribute to the dessert table. My mother and I share a love for this particular cake and I was happy to share it.
Even though I love a frosted cake much more, living alone, I rarely make one or even cupcakes, instead opting to prepare other desserts such as chocolate chip cookies, brownies and their brilliant combination brookies since the leftovers are easier and far less messy to store. Both baking and frosting refreshed my memory of what to do so I can take it a couple of steps further, starting from scratch, next time.
Both cakes turned out well. Delicious. The layers were more even on the second try. I also preferred the second attempt’s delicious buttercream frosting despite it being a cream color rather than white to my first try’s white vanilla variation.
Butter knife
In the future, I plan to make both the cake and buttercream frosting from scratch. …maybe during the longer days of summer. I would love coconut cake to be a specialty of mine, even a tradition made every Easter…