Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Coconut cake

Coconut cake / Bolo de coco com casquinha de açúcar

Make up: I’m no expert - mascara and lipstick are the only things I wear - but know how much different it makes. Not to mention make up in movies – there are fabulous and talented artists out there. Otherwise it would be impossible to transform the charming Gary Oldman into an old and ugly vampire... Especially after he showed up as a handsome 19th century gentleman (I had the biggest crush on him when that movie was released). :D

As for this cake, the “make up” – a.k.a., the icing - served as a cover up: I unmolded the cake after completely cooled and some of it got stuck in the bottom of the pan. :(

Even though the icing came in handy here, I found this cake so tender and delicious that it should be served with nothing more than a sprinkling of icing sugar on top.

Coconut cake / Bolo de coco com casquinha de açúcar

Coconut cake
from Donna Hay magazine

250g butter, softened
275g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
300g self-rising flour, sifted
80g unsweetened desiccated coconut
250ml milk

Icing:
640g icing sugar, sifted
80ml (1/3 cup) boiling water*

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF; Grease really well a 10-cup capacity bundt or ring pan.

Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well.
Add the flour, coconut and milk and beat until well combined. Spoon the mixture into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely – don’t let the cake cool completely in the pan or it might stick.

For the icing, place the sugar and water in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Spoon the icing over the cake and allow to set.

* even though I added more water, my icing was a lot thicker than the one in the magazine, but ended up keeping it that way to cover up the bruises on the cake

Serves 8-10 – I halved the recipe and used a 19cm (6-cup capacity) ring pan

Coconut cake / Bolo de coco com casquinha de açúcar

35 comments:

Liesl said...

OMG does that look amazing!

Heather said...

WOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE to make this amazing cake!

Kelly said...

Well, I am impressed with your cake, and with the lovely icing! Isn't icing the best? It can hide all manner of sins! It looks moist and lovely!

anna said...

Even though I just ate breakfast, I wouldn't mind a slice of this with the rest of my morning tea. :)

eatme_delicious said...

Wow truly gorgeous cake! I love coconut.

helen said...

I thought Gary Oldman was pretty sexy too. He can sink his teeth into my neck anytime...

This cake looks scrumptious. I really appreciate a recipe with simple steps and ingredients.

Wendy said...

That looks amazing! I want a piece right now. I'll be making this soon! Thanks for the post!

Snooky doodle said...

ohhh!!! I love coconut and this cake is making me drool !

pam said...

I love Donna Hay! And I love your pretty red zinnias, they really show off the lovely cake.

Carolyn said...

haha, i love how that first photo looks like a huuuge doughnut. amazing!

Unknown said...

Wooooo che bontà!!!

Melanie said...

I actually have everything in the house I need to make this. I think I'm going to try it!

Deborah said...

What a beautiful cake - and I'm a coconut lover!

Manggy said...

Forget the bits stuck to the pan, that is one totally rockin' pic!! The glaze looks so irresistibly luscious! :)

Brilynn said...

Love the photos!
I find whipped cream does an equally good job of hiding cake flaws!

KJ said...

I do the same thing when cakes break. And I do it often :{ But nobody cares if it is as melt in the mouth as this one. It looks divine.

Terry at Blue Kitchen said...

"Make up" for a cake? Nice touch, Patricia! This sounds delicious. Some lemon juice in the icing might give it a nice bright touch too.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

That looks like a perfect cake! I'm not a huge fan of coconut, but I have to try this one.

Abby said...

War paint, I call it. Ha.

And you shouldn't tell your secrets! The cake looks perfect!

Ash said...

mmmm...coconut

Dragon said...

You'd never know there was a anything wrong with the cake. Lovely job!

Charm said...

oh YUM!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE coconut so this cake is right up my alley. Only problem is that I'm no good at converting your measurements to American measurements. =( "Stupid Americans!" I don't know why we couldn't just go along with everyone else and used the same system. But that's enough of my rant. Do you think you could help me witht he conversions??? I would really really really love to try this cake out, and am feeling a bit bummed because I can't. The last time I tried to convert measurements, I screwed it up.

Katie said...

This looks wonderful. I love the flavour of coconut and the cake looks so nice and fluffy

Patricia Scarpin said...

Liesl, thank you!

Heather, I hope you like it, darling!

Kelly, icing is the perfect cover up sometimes. ;D

Anna, I wish I could share it with you!
xx

Ashley, thank you! I love coconut, too.

Helen, hahah, you crack me up!
I love how he completely changes from one film to another.

Wendy, I hope you try it!

Natalie, thank you!!

Pam, Donna is amazing! We should start a fan club for her or something. ;)

Carolyn, you are so right! It does look like a doughnut! :D

Nanny, grazie!

Melanie, let me know how it turns out!

Deb, I am a coconut lover too!
Tks, sweetie!

Mark, thank you, my dear friend!

Bri, thank you, darling!
I'll be trying whipped cream next time, tks for the great idea!

KJ, thank you, sweetie. I should have followed the recipe correctly and unmolded the cake while still warm... :S

Terry, I don't think lemon would go well here, since it would offset the coconut flavor a bit.
But tks!

Lydia, I think you would like this one, it's very tender!

Abby, hahaha, I like that. :D
Tks!

Ash, :D

Dragon, thank you!

Charm, I'll be changing the recipe later, ok? And tks for visiting!

Katie, thank you!
It was really, really tender, to the point of being hard to slice it.

shelly said...

Oh my! I came here from The Coterie Blog, and I'm so glad I did! Your recipes are amazing. And I've REALLY got to try this one! It looks incredible!

Elyse said...

Patricia, I'm so sorry I'm just getting around to commenting. Exam time over here!! Anyway, this coconut cake looks absolutely divine, and the icing cover-up just goes to show that beauty is on the inside :) I love that this cake doesn't need the frosting (although it sure does look pretty). Great job! Can't wait to try this.

Anonymous said...

Wow this looks amazing and I can't wait to give it a go, thank you.

¿Gusta Usted? said...

Patricia Extraordinario pastel y el maquillaje! Nadie se da cuenta del accidente que tuvo!

Amazing cake! congratulations!

I will come ofen, you have excelent blog. Thank you a lot.

Cheers!

Pasu said...

tomorrow I have a party and i will bring this cake! I can't wait to taste it!!! :)

thanks for sharing! your blog is marvelous!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Shelly, thank you for stopping by!

Elise, you are always so kind, no need to apologize!
Thank you!

Anonymous, I hope you like it! Tks!

Nora, thank you for stopping by!
Cheers!

Pasu, can't wait to hear from you again - hope you and your loved ones like the cake!
Thank you for stopping by!

Tesei said...

I tried the recipe with coconut milk instead and added a few nectarines,it was lovely! I made a BIG mistake, please don't get me wrong, I used whole wheat flour :( The taste is too strong and doesn't combine well with the aroma of coconut, also the texture is too "heavy", more like a muffin than the beautiful light cake in Patricia's pictures. However, a great recipe sure to be done again (all purpose flour next time!)

Unknown said...

I have it in the oven I'm no baker so we shall see lol.

Unknown said...

You have a lovely blog, your recipes are BEAUTIFUL, our movie taste runs in a similar manner, and;
You site works very well in Pinterest. All in all. A pretty damned good afternoon. Thank you for the English version.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Karen, you are far too kind! Thank you for your sweet words!

Warda A. said...

I've been making this cake ever since i came across it a few years ago. It's really delicious. I've made it into cupcakes, with and without icing sugar or glaze. Always a hit. Thank you very much.

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