Month: July 2015

I’ve got your vacation RX

First things first, my camera died halfway through this cake.  So, this post and most likely several posts to come will be brought to you by iPhone.

Second, I’m continuing my love affairs with Dorie.

Between renovations, summer teaching and TD’s general “hey I run a production company out of our house,” we somehow forgot to plan a summer vacation.  I definitely don’t recommend this.  In fact I am a strong advocate for maxing-out vacation time on an annual basis.

Alas, aspirations and reality sometimes don’t meet up.

But I’ve got a cure in the form of coconut and lime.  I’m a sucker for  coconut and the acid in the lime is just what the doctor ordered to cut through the richness of the cake.

While you can’t really replace summer vacation with a cake, it’s not a bad way to suffer.

Coconut Tea Cake

Ingredients
  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 C canned unsweetened coconut milk (I used light…it worked great, just give it a good shake before opening and measuring)
  • 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
  • 4 large eggs at room temperature
  • 2 C sugar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp dark rum (I used cachaca because neither TD or I drink rum and don’t have it in the house)
  • 1 C desiccated coconut
Directions
  1. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add coconut and, using a rubber spatula stir constantly until coconut is toasted (this will only take a couple of minutes so don’t walk away).  Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-to10-inch (10-12 cup) Kugelhopf or Bundt pan, or use an unbuttered silicone pan.
  3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
  4. Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan, add the butter and heat until the milk is hot and the butter melted. Remove from the heat, but keep warm.
  5. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until pale, thick and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.
  6. Beat in the vanilla and the rum.
  7. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and stopping just when the flour disappears.
  8. Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until it is blended, then steadily add the hot milk and butter. When the mixture is smooth, stop mixing and give the batter a couple of turns with a rubber spatula, just to make certain that any ingredients that might have fallen to the bottom of the bowl are incorporated.
  9. Pour the batter into the pan and give the pan a few back-and-forth shakes to even the batter.
  10. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.

For Icing

Ingredients

  • 2 C confectioner’s sugar
  • Juice from 1-2 limes

Directions

  1. Add sugar to medium bowl.
  2. Drizzle-in juice from the first lime.
  3. Whisk until smooth adding additional juice until you get desired consistency.
  4. Drizzle over cooled cake.