Coconut Cake with 7-Minute Frosting Recipe
Courtesy Alton Brown, 2007
Enslaved African cooks made for some of the most talented bakers in the antebellum South, producing some of the region's best cakes. "They brought a creativity to cooking and much hard work," says Anne Byrn, author of American Cake. "They also brought a knowledge of new ingredients like coconut." "Southern cakes such as the Coconut Cake, Lane Cake, Lady Baltimore Cake, Japanese Fruit Cake, and Pound Cake were very labor-intensive," she adds. "Eggs whites had to be whisked and flour incorporated by hand, the coconut had to be cracked, the meat extracted and shredded."
Coconut has been a specialty ingredient in American kitchens since the colonial era. A recipe for Cocoa Nut Puffs appears in “A Colonial Plantation Cookbook: The Receipt Book of Harriott Pinckney Horry,” published in South Carolina in 1770. Less than a century later, Sarah Rutledge includes a similar cookie in her book “The Carolina Housewife,” published in Charleston in 1847. She keeps the rose water flavoring while adding nutmeg and cinnamon. Her recipe calls for shaping the dough into small cones, and icing them after a long slow bake in the oven.
The coconut recipes continue in the 1800s with more cookies, puddings, pound cake, pies and ambrosia. In the 19th century, coconut became a popular ingredient in cakes, particularly in the United States and the Caribbean. The Mineral Point Tribune printed a recipe on October 28, 1869 for Cocoanut Cake (the earliest reference to coconut cake I could find):
“Cocoanut Cake - For cocoanut cake, take the whites of eight eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, one-half cup butter stirred to a cream, half cup sugar, half cup sweet milk, two and a half cups flour, a teaspoon of cream tartar, one-half teaspoon soda. Make of this three flat cakes, bake on pie tins, and while warm spread with icing, and grate on cocoanut between each cake.”
- https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86086770/1869-10-28/ed-1/seq-7/
In the 1881 “What Mrs. Fisher Knows about Old Southern Cooking” — one of the earliest cookbooks by an African-American author — has a recipe for a Jam cake that was layered with orange marmalade; and covered with a coconut frosting:
“Icing for the cake: Take the whites of four eggs and beat them very light indeed. Add three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, beat sugar and eggs together light, and spread on cake while cake is warm. Take one tea- cup of fine grated cocoanut and sprinkle over cake while icing is soft.”
The author, Abby Fisher, was an award-winning purveyor of pickles, preserves and jams. Though published on the West Coast, Fisher’s book draws on her early years in the American South.
The coconut layer cake we recognize today as the Southern Christmas staple first appeared in “The Blue Grass Cookbook,” by Minnie Fox and John Fox, Jr., which was published in Kentucky in 1904 and credits a number of the recipes contributed by African Americans cooks.
Coconut cake, a dainty dessert, was in vogue in the 1920s for ladies' gatherings.
Coconut Cake with 7-Minute Frosting Recipe
Courtesy Alton Brown, 2007
1 coconut, see Cook's Note
For the cake:
Vegetable oil, for cake pan
3 cups cake flour, plus extra for pans
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup fresh coconut milk
1/2 cup fresh coconut cream
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon coconut extract
4 egg whites
1/3 cup coconut water
For the 7-Minute Frosting:
3 large egg whites
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup coconut water
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated coconut from 1 coconut, approximately 8 to 10 ounces
Cook's Note: To open a coconut: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the coconut onto a folded towel set down in a large bowl. Find the 3 eyes on 1 end of the coconut and using a nail or screwdriver and hammer or meat mallet, hammer holes into 2 of the eyes. Turn the coconut upside down over a container and drain the water from the coconut. Store the water in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Place the coconut onto a 1/2 sheet pan and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. The coconut should have cracked in several places. Using an oyster knife or other dull blade, separate the hard shell from the brown husk. Using a serrated vegetable peeler, peel the brown husk from the coconut meat. Rinse the coconut meat under cool water and pat dry. Break the meat into 2 to 3-inch pieces. With the grater disk attached to a food processor, grate the coconut.
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil 2 (9-inch) cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Oil the parchment paper and then flour the pan. Set aside.
Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
Combine the coconut milk and coconut cream in small bowl and set aside.
Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, cream on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the sugar slowly over 1 to 2 minutes. Once all of the sugar has been added, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Turn the mixer back on to medium speed and continue creaming until the mixture noticeably lightens in texture and increases slightly in volume, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the coconut extract.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture to the butter and sugar in 3 batches, ending with the milk mixture. Do not over mix.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter, just until combined. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bang the pans on the counter top several times to remove any air and to distribute the batter evenly in the pan. Place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is light golden in color and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.
Cool the cake in the pans for 10 minutes then remove and transfer to a cooling rack. Once the cakes have cooled completely cut across the equator of each to form 4 layers. Place the 1/3 cup coconut water into a small spritz bottle and spray evenly onto the cut side of the 4 layers. If you do not have a spritz bottle you may brush the coconut water on with a silicone pastry brush. Allow to sit while preparing the frosting.
Frosting:
Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a 4-quart saucepan over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium to maintain a steady simmer. In the meantime, place the egg whites, sugar, coconut water, cream of tartar and salt into a medium size-mixing bowl. Place the bowl over the simmering water and immediately begin beating with an electric hand mixer set to low speed. Beat for 1 minute and then increase the speed to high and continue to beat for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat in the coconut and vanilla extracts for 1 minute. Allow the frosting to sit for 5 minutes before using.
Place approximately 3/4 cup of the frosting on the first layer of cake, sprinkle with 1/2 cup coconut and top with the next layer. Repeat until you reach the top layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake and sprinkle with the remaining coconut. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Coconut Milk and Cream
1 coconut, see Cook's Note above
For the milk:
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
1/2 cup boiling 2 percent milk
For cream:
1 cup freshly grated coconut
1/2 cup boiling 2 percent milk
For the milk:
Place 2 ounces of the coconut into a small mixing bowl and pour over the boiling milk. Stir to combine. Cover tightly and allow to sit for 1 hour. Transfer the mixture to the carafe of a blender and process for 1 minute.
Place a tea towel over a mixing bowl and carefully pour the mixture into it. Gather up the edges and squeeze until all of the liquid has been removed. Discard the coconut. You may use the milk immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
For the cream:
Repeat the same procedure as above only using 4 ounces of freshly grated coconut.
Coconut Extract
1 coconut, see Cook's Note above
1/3 cup freshly grated coconut
4 ounces vodka
Place 1 1/2 ounces of the coconut into a 1-cup glass jar with lid and pour the vodka over it. Seal and shake to combine. Place in a cool dark place for 5 to 7 days, shaking to combine every day. Strain the coconut and discard. Return the vodka to a clean jar or to its original bottle and store in a cool place for up to a year. Reserve the remaining coconut for another use.
