Thumb’s Up With A Cherry On Top!

Nan called me the other day. Who is Nan you ask?  She is my 79 year-old nanna.  She needed to ask me a question.  Just so you know this is exactly what all her messages say.  “Hi, its Nanna. Uh, uhm. Hello? Just have a question. Call me back. Love you. (Long pause) Bye.” She still really hasn’t adapted to voicemail or answering machines or telephones of any kind, for that matter.  Gotta love her though.  Back to her question of the day.  She needed a cake for one of her bible study ladies.  They like to celebrate birthdays with cake.  She wanted to order a coconut cake.  Panic set in . . . I have not been able to make a good coconut cake. It is one of the few cake recipes I have yet to master.  So, I hopped on to Pinterest for a few hours minutes and came up with a plan.  I would like to credit Chocolate Therapy’s The Best Coconut Cake  for the filling, assembly and inspiration.  I then used my “favorite, all-time, go-to, super-secret, very-complicated, white cake recipe.” And it won’t be a secret anymore because I am going to share it with you.  It comes from my trusty Cake Mix Bible. I know, once again, a Not-So-Martha Good Thing-using cake mix but it is always everyone’s favorite white cake; moist, vanilla-goodness with a little something extra, you can’t quite put our finger on (it is almond extract). Then, I put it all together and put a cherry on top because that’s all this beautiful, snowy-white vision of coconut needed. Don’t you think?

I sent it off without a taste-test of any sort! So I waited anxiously all morning for the reviews. And Nan reported, “Hi, its Nanna. Uh, uhm. Hello? The ladies LOVED the cake. LOVED it!  They said they’ve never had a better, more moist and delicious cake. (long pause) They let your grandfather take a piece home. (longer pause) He’s having it now and giving a thumb’s up. (pause) Call me back. Love you. (Long pause) Bye.”  

Looks like it’s a keeper.

Coconut Cake with a Cherry on Top

*Plan Ahead Notice: The filling takes 24 hours and then you refrigerate the assembled cake overnight.

Filling

1 16 oz. carton of sour cream

2 cups of white sugar

2 cups of  shredded coconut

Mix sour cream, sugar and coconut together in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for 24 hours.

Aunt Ruth’s Favorite White Cake from The Cake Mix Bible

1 package (18 ¼ oz.) white cake mix

1 ¼ cups water

3 eggs

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8-or 9-inch round cake pans. Combine cake mix, water, eggs, and oil the bowl of  your mixer. Beat at medium speed until well blended.  Add vanilla and almond extract, mix until well blended. Divide batter evenly between prepard pans.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.  Remove cakes from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Frosting

2 cups heavy whipping cream*

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract

¼  cup white sugar

* or you can always use Pastry Pride and only add the almond extract.

Beat heavy cream (adding vanilla and sugar) or Pastry Pride (just add almond extract) with mixer on high and continue to beat until the frosting is fluffy and forming stiff peaks.

Cake Assembly

When cool, divide the cake layers to make four layers. Assemble by spreading filling on top of each layer, even the top layer. The filling is very runny and juicy-it is supposed to be.  I made a frosting “wall” to keep the filling contained. To do this, just use a frosting bag and pipe a ridge around the edge of each layer before spooning the filling.

Frost sides and top with whipped cream frosting. Cover sides and top with shredded coconut. Cover finished cake with foil or put into cake box and refrigerate overnight before serving.

Oh and don’t forget the cherry on top.  After making the filling, I picked out the best looking stem-on maraschino cherry from the jar.  Gently dried it and put it on a paper towel in the refrigerator overnight. This keeps all the red juice bleeding onto our cake.

Enjoy!

Source: Filling, assembly and inspiration ChocolateTherapy. Cake recipe: Aunt Ruth’s Favorite White Cake, The Cake Mix Bible.