Super tender coconut cake with coconut icing

Since you already know I'm addicted to Suzanne Collins' books you won't be surprised to know that it took me four days to read "Catching Fire" and that I've already started reading "Mockinjay", right? :)
Now I cannot wait to watch the movie, even though knowing that Francis Lawrence is going to direct it doesn't actually thrill me.

"Mockinjay" makes me feel a bit like "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" did: I want to devour the book but at the same time I wish I could slow down the reading rhythm a little because it's the last book of the trilogy.

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The more I bake from Lisa Yockelson's girlie book the happier I get for having bought it: so far, each and every recipe I've tried turned out fantastic, like this coconut cake: it was so tender it was even hard to slice it. Just delicious.

Super tender coconut cake with coconut icing
slightly adapted from the beautiful and delicious Baking Style: Art, Craft, Recipes

Cake:
2 ½ cups (300g) cake flour*
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups + 3 tablespoons (445g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4 large eggs, separated
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (120ml) coconut milk
½ cup (120ml) whole milk
1 ¼ cups (125g) sweetened flaked coconut
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Icing:
2 cups (280g) confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tablespoons coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 22x32cm (13x9in) baking pan**.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter for 3 minutes on medium speed. Add the confectioners’ sugar in 3 additions, beating well after each addition, then beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, 2 at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Blend in the vanilla. On low speed, alternately add the sifted ingredients in 3 additions with the milks in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted ingredients. Blend in the coconut.
In a clean, medium bowl whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar until firm peaks form. Gradually fold the egg whites into the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Bake until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Make the icing: sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. Gradually add the coconut milk, stirring, until desired consistency. Pour over the cooled cake and set aside until icing is set, about 30 minutes – since I used a pan with a removable bottom, I removed the sides of the pan before pouring the icing over the cake.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

**I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (8x12in) pan

Serves 18