Coco nutty

Sugar. Sweets. Dessert. Treats. Magic. I just love all of it. Every category. From any culture. 

But that's old news. What's new, is the rebirthing of my love for coconut cake. 

I'm sure many of us have caught on (or at least heard of) the new fad of cooking with coconut oil because it's real good for you. To be honest I didn't board this train for a while because the jar of oil at Trader Joes was 5.50$$. But y'all I caved in, and I'M ON THE COCOA TRAIN driving straight into heaven. 

I just cant get enough of this stuff. I cook everything in it. and then it hit me....

If coconut oil tastes good on my broccoli and sweet potatoes... how much better will it be to bake with... 

to COCONUT CAKE with?!?!?

Here's the recipe I revised and created:

350 Oven

1 stick butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1 cup butter milk (i use vanilla yogurt and milk)

1 cup canned coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 3/4 cup flour 

Frosting:

about 1/4-1/2 cup coconut oil

about a half bag of powder sugar

some milk

(You know the drill, mix these ingredients until you have your desired frosting. Adding more sugar, and milk to find appropriate consistency.)

The use of the coconut oil and milk give this cake a nice natural coconut flavor. No need for artificial flavoring folks. 

So, with cakes we want what's called a good "crumb", meaning good cake consistency. 

How do we get a good crumb? 

1. Have a good recipe  
2. Create a nice batter  
3. Bake your cake properly 

creamed butter, sugar, salt 

Naturally, start with your fat (butter and coconut oil) cream that a bit, and then add in your sugar and salt in. Let this cream nicely

Secondly: add in your eggs (hopefully room temp) one at a time, to allow proper mixing. 

batter with eggs added

At this point I would add in the rest of my wet ingredients (butter milk and

    coconut milk).

Do I have buttermilk on hand? 

No ma'am I don't! 

Is my recipe ruined?! 

No ma'am it's not. Because I'm a resourceful baker and always have vanilla yogurt and milk, which create a perfect buttermilk. 

finished batter, yumms

After mixing your wet ingredients nicely, add the rest of the dry (soda, powder, flour) and finish mixing. 

Bingo bango! You should have a nice looking, and tasting batter on your hands. 

From here grease up whatever cake pan desired. I used two 8 inches and two 6 inches. And pop them into the oven. 

I'd let them go for about 10 minutes and check. 

CAUTION: these cakes don't brown up like normal cake. They may still look pretty white and undercooked, so jiggle them and       feel them for doneness. 

When in doubt, always under-bake my friends! If possible, I pull my cakes out a bit early (not gooey, but just beyond) because they have guaranteed moistness. 

After the cake layers are cooled, combine them with your frosting and add your coconut. Bring to an event or keep it all for yourself... Hope you enjoy this recipe coconut lovers.