Easter Coconut Cold Cake

I love cake.

I love coconut.

I love sweetened condensed milk.

I love whipped cream.

I love easy recipes that are make-ahead and get better with time.

I love/hate desserts that I enjoy so much that I strategize all day about which moment will be the one that I will open the fridge and cut myself a slab... and moan as I eat.  

If you relate to two or more of these above declarations, then you might need to make this cake!

I am typically biased towards layered cakes and bundt/tube cakes.  They are so beautiful and special and lovely on cake plates.  However, kind of like the Texas Sheet Cake I wrote about recently, you just get over that when you taste it.  This cake can't be made in layers.  It just won't work.  It is poked with holes, which are then filled with goo, and soaked, and covered with whipped cream.  This needs to happen in a pan.

the cream of coconut

My friend Gretchen introduced this cake to me a decade ago and she called it Cold Coconut Cake.  I like the "Cold" in the title because it describes it well, since it is kept in the fridge and the coldness is a defining characteristic of this dessert.  Their family has made it for years.  I talked to Gretchen's mom the other day and she told me that the recipe was originally made with a chocolate cake and with chocolate syrup and condensed milk poured over.  They got the recipe from Aunt Linda.  Then they began experimenting with the recipe.  They tried a caramel version and then Gretchen suggested to her mom to make it coconut!  She brought her a can of cream of coconut (Coco Loco) and the rest is history! This Coconut Cold Cake came into being! And we are glad.

Dave had not historically been a fan of coconut, but after tasting this cake, he was converted.  This is one of his very favorite cakes.  It has a can of Cream of Coconut in it, as well as the coconut on top.  One time when I was making it, he requested that I leave the coconut topping off of 1/2 of the cake (HIS side, we'll call it).  And I did. And, low and behold, he declared, that he actually missed the coconut!  It was a breakthrough moment.  As I was getting excited about his newfound appreciation of coconut, he took a little of the wind out of my sails and said, "maybe just a little sprinkling of coconut would be good".  So, I try to go light on the coconut topping in honor of him.  At least on his side.  

We began making this for Easter years ago because coconut is so Easter-y.  I started dying the coconut green for grass, and placing little egg candies on top for fun.  It's become a tradition.  I now make it every year.  Dave and I love knowing, if at no other point in the year, at Easter, we WILL HAVE this cake! 

As far as the candy eggs: I sometimes use Cadbury Chocolate Eggs (those lovely solid chocolate, candy coated eggs with the matte finish) because they are pretty and yummy and my favorite Easter candy. However, jelly beans taste better when eaten with the cake.  You can do what you like. 

P.S.  I took these photos last Easter when I was making the cake, but it was too late to post it for Easter.  So I just kept them in a folder on my computer, thinking I would just post it this spring.  As I told Dave that I was thinking about posting about Coconut Cake this week, he got excited assuming that this meant that I was going to make one this week, so that I could photograph it.  He was sorely disappointed when he realized that I already had last year's photos and he was going to have to wait a few weeks before having one at our house.  I'm telling you, it's that yummy.

Another great attribute of this cake is that it is better on day 2 or 3 than day 1... as the liquid soaks into the cake and it becomes moist and wet and amazing. This is helpful for a holiday meal because you can prepare it early and be done! 

Cold Coconut Cake

1 box Yellow Cake Mix (make as instructed on box)

Ingredients requested on the box [oil, eggs, water]

1 pint of whipping cream whipped (with spoons of sugar to the sweetness of your liking) OR 1 large carton of whipped topping (cool whip)

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1 can of cream of coconut (NOT COCONUT MILK...it's usually found in the section with the   grenadine and cocktail ingredients in the grocery)

2 cups (or less) of flaked sweetened coconut

Make yellow cake as directed on box. 

After the cake cools for a few minutes, poke holes in it with the end of a wooden spoon (or something similar).

Mix together condensed milk and cream of coconut in a batter bowl or large liquid measuring cup, then pour evenly over the cake.

Top with whipped cream. (Make whipped cream-  See HERE for directions).  OR you can use Cool Whip - thawed, of course), but I love whipped cream so much and it's far more real (ingredient-wise) than cool whip!

Sprinkle with coconut.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, then serve. Keep refrigerated before and after serving.

To color coconut, put it in a ziplock bag along with a few drops of green food coloring and a few drops of water - then mush around with your hands until fully incorporated.

[If you are making it a few days ahead and using real whipped cream, I suggest you cover the cake without the cream, so it doesn't run the chance of liquifying, and simply frost the cake with the whip and top with coconut on the day you are serving.]

coconut, a few drops of green food coloring, a few drops of water- in a
ziplock bag....mush around with your hands until fully
incorporated

grassy coconut topped cake

enjoy!

You might need to make a practice cake this week... to make sure you like it enough to serve it for a holiday meal.  At least that's what Dave thinks we should do!

Main dish ideas for Easter Dinner coming soon!

Grandmother Simpson's Texas Sheet Cake

I have a student, who just got married over  Christmas break. She asked me what desserts she should make in her new "married" kitchen, and told me that she is limited in her baking tools at this point.  I was trying to decide what to suggest. I thought immediately of Sour Cream Poundcake. You just can't go wrong with it.   I also thought of Texas Sheet Cake.  It is a great cake.  A southern classic.  It's not fancy in its presentation, but what it lacks in esthetics, it makes up for in decadence.  It is a moist, rich chocolate cake with thick fudge frosting.  It's called by different names, but the recipes seem to be pretty much the same. I've always referred to it as Texas Sheet Cake, but some people call it Chocolate Sheet Cake. Maybe it's called Texas because if you make it in a jelly roll pan, it is big...like Texas.  (Everything seems to be big in Texas. Even Texans are big about their state pride!)  

The only difference in recipes that I have found is that some people add cinnamon to their Texas Sheet Cake, and I just don't agree.  I love cinnamon, don't get me wrong. But I just don't think cinnamon and chocolate are meant to be together.  It's somehow not fair to the chocolate to interfere with its creamy bold greatness.   I love cinnamon in rolls, and pastries and with apples, and raisins, but I would rather not have it with my chocolate cake. I got this recipe from my friend, Suzanne.  It was her grandmother's recipe.  

I asked Suzanne to tell the story behind the cake and she wrote this beautiful memoir of Grandmother Simpson and chocolate cake:

I got this recipe from my Grandmother Simpson. She and my Grandaddy moved to Oklahoma right before my mother's senior year of high school. So, once my brothers and I came along, we always made the trek 7 hours west to Oklahoma to visit them. My Grandmother always, always, always had this cake frozen in individual pieces in her freezer. I LOVED this cake as a little girl (and still do, for that matter!!). I can still remember defrosting a piece in her microwave and topping it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I can still taste the warm chocolate icing, slightly melted from its time in the microwave, scrumptiously married with the cold ice cream.

A few years ago, I wanted to expand my repertoire of freezable recipes, both desserts and non-desserts. One of my first thoughts was my Grandmother's Texas Sheet Cake! I love heirloom recipes, recipes that are pillars in a family and are passed along from one generation to the next. Not only did I love the idea of being able to make this cake, slice it up individually, and throw it in the freezer for a homemade dessert in a pinch, but I loved the idea of having this particular cake because it's my Grandmother's recipe. By serving this cake to my 3 sons, I'm serving them up a little piece of my childhood, a memory from my Grandmother Simpson, their great-grandmother. 

My Grandmother Simpson just celebrated her 80th birthday this month, so this is a special tribute to her!  I love my Grandmother and love to hear my mom tell me that I'm like her in some way. Despite being separated by hundreds of miles, I have always felt extremely close to her. This recipe is just another way that makes me feel close to her. With each warm, delicious bite, it takes me back to sitting on my Grandmother's stool devouring her yummy scrumptious Texas Sheet Cake. 

Zoe's Kitchen, a favorite restaurant chain, has a nice varied menu of healthy meal options and ONE dessert.  They serve this cake, which they call Ya Ya Cake (such a fun name).   It's a slab of chocolate sheet cake, packaged in a plastic to-go container, stacked by the register.  The only choice about it, is deciding which piece to purchase.  So, after ordering my Greek Salad, I sometimes give in and add a piece of YaYa Cake.  And of course, I quickly scan the stack and find the biggest piece... to go with my salad. 

It is their signature dessert, kinda like it was Grandmother Simpson's.

I love when people’s recipes become “signature recipes”.  Sometimes we intentionally purpose these into being and other times they claim us as their own.  Ginger Snaps are Lisa’s, Cold Coconut Cake is Gretchen’s, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are my sister’s,  Plum Cake is Connie’s, Tea Cakes are Melissa’s, and so on and so on.

So, what’s your signature recipe? Or what do want it to be? Claim it. Perfect it. Own it. Share it...maybe for generations to come.

Texas Sheet Cake

the Cake

2 cups sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1 stick butter

3 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa

1/2 cup shortening (Crisco)

1 cup water

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup buttermilk

(or substitute 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 tsp. white vinegar)

the Icing

1 stick butter

3 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa

6 tsp. milk

1 lb. powdered sugar (4 cups)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup pecans, chopped  (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix sugar and flour in a large bowl.  Set aside. Combine butter, cocoa, shortening, and water in saucepan.  Bring to boil 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add cocoa mixture to flour mixture and stir well.  Add buttermilk, vanilla, baking soda and eggs.  Beat well.  Coat 11 x 16 (jelly roll pan – cookie sheet with a lip) with cooking spray.  Pour cake batter into pan.  Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

For icing, put butter, cocoa and milk in saucepan. Bring to boil for 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and nuts.  Mix well.  Pour over cake while cake is still warm.  Let cake and icing sit until icing begins to harden before serving. 

(my mom does the melting in the microwave)

stove top cooking

cooling

This recipe is so interesting.  You make both the cake batter and the icing on the stove (I use the same pan twice) and many of the ingredients are the same in both.

frosted

ready to eat

Celebrating MLK Day (Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting)

January is one of my favorite months.
It's marked by: 

*New calendars-functional ones & pretty ones

*Goal setting

*The winter days start their swing towards more daylight in our part of the world (These short days are brutal.)

*Sweaters, scarves, layers

*Warm beverages

*Starting a new year- a clean slate (I love marking things off a list, so to mark an entire year off feels pretty great! Especially tough ones like 2016.)

   & 

*MLK holiday

I always relish honoring Dr. King and all those who have boldly and sacrificially fought with truth and peace for equity* (see footnote for more on equity) for all people and continue to.

In our home we always seek to celebrate MLK Day with some type of reading/reflecting/commemoration/dreaming. We sometimes listen to/watch the "I Have a Dream" Speech, or watch a racial justice focused film.  If you haven't watched President Obama's Farewell Speech, it would be a good pick.  And we always make an “integrated” birthday dessert- usually some combination of chocolate and vanilla. Here are a couple of our past celebrations. 

Here's a favorite. 

It’s Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake recipe that my friend Jennifer recommended to me. What a
lovely cake.  (It is one of the many chocolate cake recipes from Ina, the Barefoot Contessa). It's moist, with a nice body. [Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beattys-chocolate-cake-recipe.html?oc=linkback]

Her recipe is topped with a whipped mocha frosting that is silky and delicious.  I decided for the MLK cake to top it with vanilla almond buttercream frosting instead so that it was white and black.
[I made it with butter and coconut oil.]  If you use Refined Coconut Oil (like the Crisco brand Coconut Oil) it doesn't taste coconut-y.

And the fun part was making these toppers. 

The inspiration for the chocolate flower toppers was from The Great British Baking Show.  They made these on an episode and my girls and I were enamored.  They look so impressive to be so simple to make! You really should try making them.  I haven't tried other shapes but you could really have some fun with this! 

Beatty's Chocolate Cake  by Ina Garten

Chocolate Cake: 

Butter or cooking spray for coating pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

 

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
makes more than enough, but better too much than not enough! 

2 sticks butter, softened (or 1 stick butter & 1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil or crisco for whiter, thicker frosting)

a couple of pinches of salt
1 (32-oz.) package powdered sugar
6 to 7 Tbsp. milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract- or I use 1 tsp. vanilla/1 tsp. almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour (or use Baker’s Joy to coat) 2 or 3 round cake pans -depending on what you have and like

Add the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal.

For the frosting:
Beat butter and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer 1 to 2 minutes or until creamy.

Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with spoons of milk, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. 

Stir in extract. Add milk or powdered sugar to arrive at desired thickness and texture. 

(You can make frosting while cake is in the oven.  Keep on counter until cake is cooled- if you refrigerate it will harden and you will need to thaw before frosting cake.)

With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, (if you made a third layer, repeat,) then spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake. 

For chocolate decorations:

Melt a small amount of dipping chocolate (I like Ghirardelli the best) following instructions on the package for melting.  Melt and stir to where it is smooth but not too runny.

using a spatula, spoon it into a plastic zip-top bag.

Lay a piece of waxed paper on the counter.
Use scissors to clip a very small bottom corner off of the bag.

Quickly and gently let it pour in a looping formation. You may have to try it a few times to get the hang of it.  I like to do a loop and then continue across from it and then start a new loop across from that, and so on, making 6 loops total, crossing in the middle to give it strength. 

You can also draw on a piece of paper the design you want and place that under the waxed paper as a guide. 

Once they solidify, transfer the wax paper to the refrigerator.

[Here's a little video Lucy and I made for you.]

Hoping you are having a great start to the new year and that you have a peaceful and meaningful (and delicious) MLK weekend. 

*footnote: Equity and equality are related but distinct terms.  One day in class, I was speaking about equity and a student asked, “Do you mean equality? Is that the same?” I said, "Well, equality is when people are given the equal amount of something or equal treatment, but equity goes beyond that and seeks to level the playing field- thus making people at a common level, or equal place.  This requires more for some than others!" This graphic is the one I think most simply communicates this. 

Gratitude (and a Recipe Sharing Friend)

This time of year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, breeds thankfulness. Unfortunately, I am easily overwhelmed in my life, and it sometimes feels paralyzing, and this time of year is so full that it is especially overwhelming.  I am engulfed with the messes in my house, the responsibilities that I carry, the individual and enormous needs of each of my children, things I need to do and things I want to do.  During this season, even the fun things (like holiday gift buying, baking, card sending, and decorating) can feel overwhelming. 

I have to stop and breathe and focus on GRATITUDE.

Gratitude is a powerful force.  It is more than a fluffy idea.  There is science behind it!

The research that has emerged recently on gratitude is incredible. 

Here are a couple of interesting pieces on the power of gratitude.

This short piece, by my hero Brene Brown, is about the link between Gratitude and Joy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IjSHUc7TXM

And this fun experiment measuring the link between Gratitude and Happiness, from SoulPancake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg

So, I am stopping for a moment and making a list of 10 things for which I am grateful TODAY. 

Some things I am grateful for are:

1.     The health of our family

2.     Wonderful schools with great faculty and administration that are impacting my kids everyday

3.     Good coffee

4.     Meaningful work with incredible students

5.     Laughter

6.     Neighbors with whom we can loan ingredients and tools, and lend a hand and feel so not alone in this life.

7.     God’s faithfulness- His mercies that are new every morning!

8.     The seasons

9.     A good night’s sleep under a fluffy comforter

10. Friends- old and new, near and far

#10- friends old and new, is the inspiration for this post.  I have a new friend, Sandi.  She is a very talented, wise and generous woman that I have gotten to know this fall.  She and her husband are in our small group at church and one of the unexpected blessings of this new friendship are the food and recipes that have come from her kitchen.  Because we share a meal together each week at group, we have the chance to eat each other’s food weekly!  (That is not a typical opportunity in many friendships).

She is a great cook and has so many recipes that are NEW to me.  It has been a boon for me and my kitchen! Through the years of my food blogging, one of the things that has kept me at it (when I wonder why in the world am I doing this in the vast number of food blogs on the internet) is knowing that some friend or some unknown friend, is finding inspiration and help with what to make for dinner.

Sandi’s gift of new, delicious, do-able recipes has been so great.  I couldn’t decide which recipe to share with you that I have tried of Sandi’s lately, so I decided to share both!  At the rate I am posting lately, I might should double-up when I do sneak the time to create a blog post!  

Recipe #1 is her Apple Cole Slaw.

I love it!

It is sweet and tangy and healthy!  It is good as a side with just about anything!

I have made it twice and I approached it differently each time, and it produced different results.  I liked them both.  I made it once in my food processor and it yielded a much finer, juicer slaw (think Chick fil a slaw texture) and the second time I chopped with a knife and it yielded more of a loose, crunchy salad.

Apple Cole Slaw

Salad

1 apple, chopped

4 slices pineapple, chopped

2 cups cabbage, chopped

Dressing

2 Tbsp. mayo

2 Tbsp. milk

1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. sugar

¼ tsp. salt

Mix together the dressing in a small bowl or measuring cup.

Toss together the apples, pineapple and cabbage.

Pour dressing over. Stir to completely coat.

Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before eating.

Recipe #2 is Nani’s Cake

It's called Nani's cake because the lady who gave her the recipe got it from her Nani.   

My mom tasted it and said she thinks she has this recipe from somewhere in her past and called it Butter Pecan Cake.  I'd call it Sticky Coconut Bundt Cake.  It is a simple- throw it in a bowl, stir and bake cake.  It has a can of coconut pecan sticky frosting stirred into the batter- so it needs no frosting on top.  It gets even stickier and moister after a couple of days, so it is a great make-ahead dessert.  The coconut and nuts are not dominant, so even people who don’t love those ingredients would like it, I think.

Nani’s Cake

1 box yellow butter cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 cup milk

1 can (Pillsbury)- coconut pecan frosting*

1 tsp almond extract

Beat all together (including frosting).

Spray bundt pan generously.

Bake 350 for 40 minutes.

It gets better with each day so try not to eat it all the first day.

 * we used Betty Crocker frosting because they didn't have Pillsbury

Another gift from Sandi was the book, Not By Sight by John Bloom (President of Desiring God ministries). Click the link to read more about it.  It has been a refreshing morning read this fall.  I highly recommend it. 

So, thank you, Sandi, for sharing your kindness, and generous gifts.  What a blessing.

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I hope in the midst of these busy December days we can all purpose to spell our days with gratitude.

But be forewarned, it is sometimes vulnerable to do so!

PERSONAL CONFESSION: Surprisingly the act of writing the gratitude list in this post felt challenging- though in a good way.  I had to dig deep, and be still for a few moments to really think about the things for which I am grateful today. 

And the act of sharing the list feels/felt vulnerable and somehow risky, and I wonder if that may be part of what holds us back from practicing and expressing gratitude more! 

Homemade Coconut Ice Cream- Let the Churning Ritual Begin

We have begun the Ice Cream Making Season at our house. Homemade ice cream is one of my favorite summer traditions.

I am finally taking the time to finish the lovely book, The Art of Family by Gina Bria.  One of the chapters I read this week talked about rituals and the importance of them within families. She mentions food a great deal in this section, as it is oftentimes woven into special moments and occasions.

Bria writes, "(Home is) never just four walls.  Home can be thought of almost as a body to care for, a body that contains the spirit of the family.  One can read the character of a family by the home they make.  It is not the things they have, but the spirit of life that is manifest in their home, because home is the ultimate joint project families do together." 

She goes on to suggest that, "a home is made out of bodily needs. We have to eat, we have to rest, we have to sleep.  What can we do with that? How can we use those needs to build relationships? That's the ultimate human trick- to raise up our bodily needs into lasting bonds. Home is not just meeting those needs, but building relationships out of them through so many little gestures, placements, coffee cups, shared dainties, boiled potatoes, and checkbooks."

I agree wholeheartedly that "raising up our bodily needs into lasting bonds" is a wonderful aim.  (Not that ice cream is a bodily need - but that tradition, food, our homes, and rituals make lasting bonds).

There are so many recipes for homemade ice cream- some that require cooking, some require chilling before freezing, and then there are the kinds like this one that only requires dumping and stirring before freezing and they are my favorite! Two years ago, I wrote about Ice Cream-making HERE.

  

My friend, Audrey, made this amazing Coconut Ice Cream and brought it to our Women's Study.  She said it was super-simple, and I kind of believed her.  I made it last week and it feels too easy to be true! 3 ingredients and no cooking or chilling before freezing! It is creamy and icy, and it's coconutty enough but not in an overpowering way. My family is crazy about it.  They all adore coconut (or "co-co-nut" as my 6 year old lovingly and phonetically pronounces it).  Here's the recipe.


Coconut Ice Cream

2 cups milk (we used 2%)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can coconut milk (from the Asian section of the grocery- not to be confused with Cream of Coconut- like used in this delicious coconut cake and not the refrigerated watery kind in the milk carton. )

For the topping- 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut.

Stir the 3 milks together.  Use a whisk, if needed, or a fork, to make a smooth, consistent texture.
Pour into ice cream maker canister and follow directions on your ice cream maker for churning/freezing.

While I was trying to take a photo of this beautiful, creamy ice cream, a little
girl  kept trying to stick her green spoon in the container! It's that good (and she
likes to be in the pictures that much too). 

While the ice cream is churning, spread coconut on a baking sheet and bake at 350˚ for a few minutes until toasted and browned on the edges. (You have to watch it because it moves from toasted to over-done very quickly).

Pack and freeze ice cream in container after making to further solidify or eat immediately.  Sprinkle with toasted coconut when serving.

Makes 2 Quarts

If you don't have an ice cream maker, see if you can find someone who will loan you theirs.  Or if possible, purchase your own.  Someone gave us our first ice cream maker (the electric bucket one that uses ice and rock salt) as a wedding gift.  We used it so often and loved having it - so much so that for a lot of years, we gave bucket ice cream makers for wedding gifts to friends getting married.  A couple of years ago, I got this indoor, fancy, no-ice-required maker from my parents.  It makes a smaller batch but is really convenient and so easy to use.

Hopefully, more flavors will be coming throughout the summer- we have several on the "to make" list. However, I can't imagine they will beat this one!