White Coconut (Cup)Cake: Take 1

 

My mother-in-law's birthday was August 28, but we were not celebrating until the following Sunday. Since I'm on this big baking kick right now, I decided I was going to make her a cake. Bill's family doesn't do birthdays like my family does, but I'm trying to change that a little bit and baking  a cake seemed like the way to go. So, after asking the clueless Bill what kind of cake his mom liked, I texted my sister-in-law to find out.  I was shocked when she came back with white coconut. Why, you ask? Because white coconut happens to be my mother's favorite cake, and I was planning on making one for her birthday later in September. Only thing was, I'd never done a coconut cake. Now, I had the opportunity to do it twice. And cupcakes were an even more perfect choice because I knew in my family nobody but Mom likes coconut cake (which means she never gets one for her birthday) and I was pretty sure nobody else in Bill's family did either.

In my ongoing attempt to get away from my old stand-by recipes, I went in search of a new white cake recipe. Turned out I didn't need to look far. My dad gave me the Texas Country Reporter Cookbook for Christmas a few years ago, and I've tried a few things in it. When I went to cakes, I found Sam Houston White Cake. From the cookbook: "According to legend, this was Sam Houston's favorite cake recipe." So, I had to try it. I tried to make the White Mountain Frosting from my Betty Crocker cookbook, but that didn't work out so well, so I went back a traditional buttercream. I made half the batch of cupcakes with white buttercream and coconut and the other half I made my first attempt at ganache--all I can say about that is yum.

As this was my first attempt, I'm not sure it was quite as much of a coconut cake as it probably should have been, but I know what I'll differently next time!

Sam Houston White Cake
(adapted from Texas Country Reporter Cookbook)

Ingredients:
3/4 c. margarine or butter, softened
2 c. sugar
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. almond extract
6 egg white at room temperature

1. Cream butter and gradually add sugar, beating well.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine milk and water.

 

3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with mild mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix well after each addition.

4. Stir in almond extract.

5. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into batter.

6. Pour batter into three greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

Sissy's Variations:
I'm all about sifting these days, even recipes aren't calling for it, so I sifted the dry ingredients. Like I said, I baked these as cupcakes--it made about 2 dozen large.

 

I filled up the muffin pans a little more than I probably should have, but I still though the result was great.

 

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
(from the Betty Crocker Cookbook)

Ingredients:
3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. butter or stick margarine, softened
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 to 2 tbsp. milk

1. Mix powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl with spoon or electric mixer on low speed. Stir in vanilla and 1 tbsp. of milk.

2. Gradually beat in just enough remaining mild to make frosting smooth and spreadable. If frosting is too thick, beat in more mild, a few drops at a time. If frosting becomes too thin, beat in a small amount of powdered sugar. Frosts 13 x 9-inch cake generously, or fills and frosts an 8- or 9-inch two-layer cake.

Sissy's Variations:
Here's where the coconut part of the cake came in. I frosted the cupcakes generously and topped with flaked coconut and toasted coconut. Sorry for the bad picture--bad lighting in MIL's kitchen!

 

Chocolate Ganache
(from the Betty Crocker Cookbook)

Ingredients:
2/3 c. whipping (heavy) cream
6 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped

1. Heat whipping cream in 1-quart saucepan over low heat until hot but not boiling; remove from heat.

2. Stir in chocolate until melted. Let stand about 5 minutes. Ganache is ready to use when it mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon. It will become firmer the longer it cools.

3. Pour ganache carefully onto top center of cakes; spread with large spatula so it flows evenly over top and down to cover side of cake. Glazes 13 x 9-inch cake or top and side of an 8- or 9-inch two-layer cake.

Overall, I thought the cake part was just okay--not quite moist enough for my taste, but my mother-in-law loved it asked for the recipe. She thought it was the perfect amount of coconut, but I think I will try using coconut extract next time--maybe in both the cake and the icing, or maybe just the icing. Recommendations welcome! As for the ganache, I will definitely make this again. I can't believe I've gone this long without it in my life.