Baking Hack: Coconut Layer Cake with Fluffy Coconut Frosting

Cake Hack: Coconut Layer Cake with Fluffy Coconut Frosting

I will admit, that one of the best coconut layer cakes I ever ate was from Joanne Chang's
"Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe". I will also admit that while delicious, it is not the fastest, least messy recipe, either. In a weak moment, a few months ago, I promised my friend Matt a coconut birthday cake, completely forgetting the fact that his birthday comes when I am frantically getting the garden ready for the growing season. I had to come up with a cake that wouldn't take a half day to make since I needed some of that day to fool with raised beds and irrigation systems. It also had to be a wonderful cake since Matt is a fine cook / chef. Luckily he's no food snob, but he sure knows merely "good" from good.

Yes, I am making excuses for this cake hack. But this cake is good, really good, and as long as you don't go all food-snotty on me I'll share the recipe, because there are things like cake mix, and marshmallow fluff in it. You don't need any excuses to make it, not even a birthday. Just make it because it's Monday and you survived the weekend. Make it and hold your head high.

Coconut Layer Cake with Fluffy Coconut Frosting

For the cake:

1 16.25 oz. box white cake mix
cooking spray
1-1/4 cups canned coconut milk, full fat
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
3 egg whites
1-1/2 tsp. natural coconut extract

For the frosting and filling:

16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
14 oz. tub of marshmallow fluff, minus 1/4 cup
2 tsp. natural coconut extract
1 14 oz. bag of sweetened, flaked coconut


1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF or to the temperature recommended on your cake mix box. Spray 2 round cake pans (8" or 9") with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Mix the cake according to the package directions, substituting the coconut milk for the water or other liquid, the coconut oil for the vegetable oil, and after adding the egg whites, add the coconut extract. Beat on low speed with a hand mixer until just blended.

3. Pour the batter into the pans, dividing it evenly between them, and bake until it just springs back when touched. Use the box instructions as a guideline, but mine was done in about 30 minutes. cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then turn the cakes onto a rack to cool completely

4. When the cake has cooled completely, place the softened cream cheese into a medium mixing bowl, and with an electric hand mixer whip the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the coconut extract, and then gradually add the marshmallow fluff a few spoonfuls at a time until the frosting is of a spreadable consistency.

5. Remove about 2 cups of the frosting to another container, and mix in 1 cup of the flaked coconut. This is the filling for between the layers. Cover both bowls and chill for about an hour.

6. Set one cake layer, domed side down on a cake plate and spread the filling evenly over the top. Place the second layer, flat side down on the filling and covert the cake with the frosting. Once the cake is completely iced, carefully press palmfuls of flaked coconut around the sides of the cake...feel free to do the top, too, if you wish. Store covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours, or or covered and refrigerated for up to 3 day, although it won't last that long. Serves 8 more or less...

Curried Creamy Tomato Soup with Chickpeas and Spinach: Recipe Evolution

Kasha, aka, The Farm Girl Cooks, posted a link on FB to an absolutely delicious-sounding recipe on the blog Three Many Cooks called "Curried Cream of Tomato Soup with Chickpeas and Spinach". I had everything in the house to make it. Perfect lunch for these damn cold, not-quite-spring days. Then I saw just two things I would need to change. My lactose intolerance won't allow me to use that much canned evaporated milk comfortably in my own food, and adding baking soda to acidic foods tends to reduce some of the  available vitamin content. 

I thought I'd just sub some of my coconut based coffee creamer for the evaporated milk and that would allow me to skip the baking soda too, since coconut products don't curdle in the presence of acids. Done, right? Wrong. While poking in the pantry for canned chickpeas I spied a can of light coconut milk, and a jar of Thai green curry paste. Hmmmm. Different flavor profile? Going to need to follow a Thai-ish line here, so will need to check out what else I have on hand to flesh out a variation. Maybe some basil and ginger? Not even close to authentic Thai, but wonderful, filling and healthy. 

While the "bones" are the same as the original recipe --tomato puree, chickpeas and spinach, the finished product is a very different soup. The result?  A recipe evolution.A dreamy, creamy, spicy, warming soup that, if your pantry and freezer is fairly well stocked, you can make from what you have around. Don't be afraid to change up the spices or sub good stock for the milk. A good madras curry will work here too, if you have some in your spice cupboard. It's by far the best lunch I've had all week--so good the girls at work were dipping their spoons into my bowl, too. Quick and easy deliciousness.

I'd like to thank the gang over at Three Many Cooks for the inspiration, and Kasha for pointing it out. This version is vegetarian,  vegan in fact, and dairy-free and gluten free. Maybe your version will evolve this recipe another fabulous step?

Curried Creamy Tomato Soup with Chickpeas and Spinach

Curried Creamy Tomato Soup with Chickpeas and Spinach

Ingredients:

1T safflower oil or olive oil
1 small onion, diced fine
1 T minced ginger (from a jar is fine)
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 T Thai green curry paste
1 13.5 oz. can light coconut milk
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (organic if possible)
1 heaping T dried basil
1T  sugar or granular Erythritol
1 14 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups  baby spinach, packed, or 1 cup  frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3T minced fresh cilantro, or frozen cilantro
Kosher or sea salt

Instructions:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil until it thins and ripples, and then add the onion, ginger and garlic. Turn the heat to medium, and sauté until the onion begins to soften. stir in the green curry paste and cook for a minute longer.

2. Stir in the coconut milk and the crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add the basil and the sugar or erythritol, and let simmer for 5 minutes. 

3. Stir well, and then add the chickpeas and the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts, about another 3 minutes. Taste for salt, and add as needed. Stir  in the cilantro and serve.

Serves 3 - 4