May 17th 1951
Thursday
Another hot day.
MJ. + H taken G's route along with theirs today.
G harrowed over ground twice, then he started to plant, but planter is out of order. Will try it again in morning.
I worked in the garden.
In PM Bobbie came helped mow yard good.
I worked more this eve in garden and baked a
cocoanut cake; G went to river and got 4 (fish)
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Friends and Family know that I LOVE to bake! Especially pies, cakes and fancy desserts.
My hubby mentioned just the other day that he would love to have some coconut cake. So it was funny to read previous daily entries (early in the year of 1951) where she mentions several times, baking a
cocoanut cake.
Here is my Great Aunt Dorothy's recipe (circa 1940s) with my own spin
Moist Cocoanut Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease pan (with this recipe, I love using my big rectangle lasagna pan)
2 cups of flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
(whisk above ingredients and SIFT into medium size bowl; set aside)
1/2 cup of softened unsalted butter
(a lot of recipes call for shortening, but trust me...everything IS better with butter!)
1. 3/4 cup of sugar (use Organic Cane sugar found in your bulk food aisle)
4 egg whites
1 tsp of real vanilla or bourbon vanilla
1.5 cups of shredded coconut (you can get large shredded coconut chips in your bulk food aisle)
1 can of coconut milk (half fat content found at Trader Joe's!) Recipe calls for 1 1/3 cup of milk, use remaining towards your frosting.
With rotary/electric mixer, cream butter for 30 seconds and slowly add sugar until blended well. Add half the amount of egg whites at a time until completely incorporated.
Now alternate by adding a portion of the dry mixture and your coconut milk until completely incorporated until batter is thick and lovely! Add in your vanilla and mix for a few seconds.
Stir in the shredded coconut.
Pour batter into your greased pan, knock the bottom of your pan hard on the counter to release any trapped air bubbles and put in middle rack of your oven for 35 minutes.
Watch carefully towards the last five minutes or so, if middle 'jiggles' when you move the pan, give it an extra five minutes. Use the
ol' wooden toothpick in the middle test....comes out clean (meaning no wet batter)...it's done! Set it on a wire rack to cool.
Frosting/Topping
Really, this cake does not even need a frosting, it is so moist and will not last long in your home...I promise!
AND......although it's extremely moist and yummy, it holds up very well making it easy to cut big squares that can be wrapped in wax paper for a snack cake....just like I'm sure the 50's Farm Wife did to send off with her hubby (G) to enjoy while he was out plowing one of the fields for planting!
If you must do frosting, I prefer to cook down mine (which I like, because it eliminates the sugary consistency of powdered sugar). I eyeball my frosting, pastry creams and fillings,
so I apologize for not having exact measurements!
1/2 stick of softened unsalted butter
Roughly 2 cups of sifted powdered sugar
1/2 tsp bourbon vanilla
1 to 1.5 cup of shredded coconut
Approx 1/4 to 1/2 cup of coconut milk (using remainder from above can)
I start by creaming the butter in a large sauce pan (not on heat) with my hand mixer for a few seconds, then add a bit of the sifted sugar until it's fairly thick.
Next, on low heat, I continue to alternate the milk/vanilla and sugar until it's a soft/melted consistency (continue mixing and switch to a spatula). As the sugar is combined nicely with the milk it will look more like a glossy thick glaze....this is what you want :) pull it off of the heat and stir/mix in the coconut.
*I start to make this when the cake is pulled out from the oven and
do not wait until the cake is completely cooled to spread the frosting. Pour the entire contents of the saucepan onto the middle of the pan. With your spatula spread towards the outside until completely covered.
The milk glaze will soak down into the cake and when it's cooled, which offers a lovely sugary crust right under the frosting.
So those are my secrets for making a good old fashioned coconut sheet cake.
It's rainy here today....a good reason to bake a cake!
Enjoy your Monday!
L
