TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

The last Tuesdays With Dorie recipe for the month of March is Coconut Tea Cake. There seem to be a lot of people who don’t really like coconut. Josh will eat coconut if there are enough other ingredients in the recipe to mask the texture and flavor and doesn’t seem to mind coconut in curry, but since he is pretty ambivalent about coconut desserts (the tarts from the beginning of the month? unfinished), I rarely bother to make them unless it’s baking group assignment. Luckily, I saw my family this month and I knew they would appreciate coconut cake.



I made the plain version, with the optional rum. I used light coconut milk, and since I didn’t think it had a very strong coconut flavor, I increased the amount of shredded coconut in the recipe from ¾ cup to one cup. I also reduced the sugar from 2 cups to a cup and a half since I used sweetened coconut. A lot of bakers reported that their cakes were moist, but mine was on the dry side. Not so much in a bad way, more like a light and very airy way. I was happy to have a chance to use my Kugelhopf pan, admittedly for only the second time. The first time was when I made a recipe from Baking for All Occasions, which has foolproof instructions for preparing pans with intricate designs: a layer of shortening (I used butter), a coating of nonstick spray, and a dusting of flour. It does seem a bit overly cautious, but it works.



My parents both enjoyed the cake. My mom said it is “the type of cake you can eat any time of day,” which is pretty much exactly what Dorie said in the recipe notes. I tried it plain and thought it was good, though I wouldn’t have minded a bit of fruit sorbet on the side or a light glaze. This cake gets a 7.2 for Deliciousness and a 3 for Effort, for an EDR of 2.4. Many thanks to Carmen of Carmen Cooks for selecting this yummy cake. You can find the recipe on Carmen’s site and visit the TWD blogroll to see what the other bakers thought.