Coconut cake

By the time I finished making and frosting two cakes for my birthday, I was disgusted with cake. Nevertheless, I managed to eat a lot of it. Here's the coconut cake I made, adapted from this article from the Dallas Morning News website.

First the cake itself:

2/3 C. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/3 C. sugar
2 C. all-purpose flour
2 2/3 tsp. baking powder
pinch kosher salt
2 1/2 T. whole milk
1/4 C. Coconut milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 large egg whites at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter three 9-inch cake pans, then line each with a parchment round. Butter the paper and dust the pans with flour; knock out excess.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt to blend. In a small bowl, stir together the milk, coconut milk until smooth. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. After each addition, mix at low speed just to combine the ingredients. Stir in the vanilla.

Beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until evenly blended. Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold onto wire racks to cool completely.

Then the frosting between the layers:

1 1/2 C. Heavy whipping cream
2 T. dried, powdered non-fat milk (optional)

Whip the whipping cream and milk powder with the electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks. You can also put in a little almond or vanilla extract.

Then the outside frosting:

1/2 C. Water
1 C. Sugar
2 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. white vinegar
2 to 3 C. unsweetened coconut flakes

Stir sugar into water to dissolve it. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and cook without stirring for 3 minutes. Then boil for 5 to 10 minutes more, stirring often, until the syrup has thickened and will form itself into a thread about 2 inches long when poured from a spoon back into the pot. Set the syrup aside.

Beat egg whites and vinegar in a large bowl with a mixer at high speed until they are bright white and shiny. While beating at high speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites to blend them into a fluffy white icing, 4 to 5 minutes.

Ice the cake and sprinkle liberally with coconut flakes.