Art and I had a couple friends over for dinner last weekend, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to make Barefoot Contessa's coconut cake. The recipe had been tempting me for months, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a try.BAREFOOT CONTESSA'S COCONUT CAKE
3 sticks of butter, at room temperature
2 c. sugar
5 extra large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 c. milk (I used sour milk: 1 Tbl vinager plus enough milk to make fill 1 c.)
4 oz. sweetened shredded coconut
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 9" round cake pans, line with parchment, and dust with flour.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a seperate bowl and add one at a time to the butter and sugar with the mixer on medium speed. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.
In a seperate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, soda and sald. With mixeron low, alternately add the dry ingerdiates and the milk in 3 parts, starting and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. (Don't over mix!) Fold in 4 oz of coconut with a rubber spatula.
Pour batter into 2 pans. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Cool the in the pan 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto cooling racks to finish cooling.
FROSTING
1 lb of cream cheese, at room temperature (I used 1 8oz pack of regular cream cheese and one 8oz pack of neufetchel cheese)
2 sticks of butter (I used 1 stick)
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 lb. confectioners sugar
6 oz sweetened shredded coconut
Cream the cream cheese, butter and extracts on low speed. Add the confectioners' sugar and mis until just smooth. Frost the cake, then sprinkle with coconut.
Even though I omitted a stick of butter in the frosting, I had plently left over. I also used 8" cake pans, filled half-way, and made 3 cupcakes with the leftover batter. The cake was quite delicious, and I can't wait to make it again, but I think this will be a once-in-a-while treat.
