Recipes : Coconut Cake with 7-Minute Frosting : Food Network

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Coconut Cake with 7-Minute Frosting
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007

Ingredients
1 coconut, see Cook's Note

For the cake:
Vegetable oil, for cake pan
14 1/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pans, approximately 3 cups
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
16 ounces sugar, approximately 2 1/4 cups
1 teaspoon coconut extract
4 egg whites
1/3 cup coconut water

For the 7-Minute Frosting:
3 large egg whites
12 ounces sugar, approximately 1 3/4 cups
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

Directions
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.

Ingredients
For the cake:

Directions
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.

Ingredients
Frosting:

Directions
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.