Cake Slice Bakers- Southern Coconut Cake (not pretty, but pretty tasty!)

This month's Cake Slice Baker's cake is Southern Coconut Cake- a white cake lightly flavored with coconut milk, frosted with a cream cheese, italian-merengue buttercream type frosting. I'm out of town and my mom doesn't have the best cake pans, so my cake layers did not come out of the pans very easily. They also had pretty crispy edges.

My frosting was also a little runny. I popped it in the freezer for a while to firm it up so I could at least frost the cake. The frosting is pretty amazing- creamy and cream cheesey- there's nothing better than cream cheese frosting! I also didn't garnish the cake with as much coconut as the recipe says as I wasn't sure if the people/kids who would be eating this cake would want that much coconut on it.

Southern Coconut Cake
Makes an 8-inch triple layer cake
For the cake:
5 large egg whites
½ cup of milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3 cups of cake flour (I used 3 cups AP flour, minus 6 T)
2 and 1/3 cup sugar
4 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter (8oz.) at warm room temperature
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Butter the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a parchment circle and butter the circle.
Put the egg whites in a bowl and whisk slightly. Add the ½ cup of milk and the vanilla and whisk to mix thoroughly; set aside.
In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, beat dry ingredients well in order to break up any lumps. Add the butter and coconut milk on low speed and beat just to combine. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy about 2 minutes.
Add the egg white mixture in 2 or 3 additions, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Divide the batter among the pans.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake taster inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Then turn the cakes out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
To assemble the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on an 8-inch cake round. Cover this layer with 1 cup of the buttercream frosting. Spread it evenly all the way to edge of the cake. Then sprinkle ½ cup of shredded coconut on top. Add the second layer and repeat the process. Top with the final layer of cake and frost the top and sides of the cake.
Place the remaining 1 ½ cups shredded coconut on a large baking tray. Pick up the cake and hold it on the palm of one hand over the tray. Using the other hand scoop up the coconut and press it to the sides of the cake. Continue with this process until the sides of the cake are covered. Set the cake on a serving plate and sprinkle any remaining coconut on top of cake. Chill cake for at least one hour to allow frosting to firm up a bit.
Cream cheese buttercream frosting
12 ounces of cream cheese slightly chilled
1 stick of unsalted butter plus 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter (7 ounces) at room temperature
1 cup of confectioners sugar, sifted after measuring
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of granulated sugar
¼ cup of water
3 egg whites
Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer and beat on medium speed until slightly fluffy and smooth. Add the butter 1-2 tablespoons at a time, mixing until smooth. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and mix until fluffy. Set aside at room temperature while buttercream is made.
Combine the granulated sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue to cook without stirring until the syrup reaches the softball stage 228 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
Meanwhile, place the egg whites in mixer bowl and have the mixer ready to go. When the syrup is ready, turn the mixer on med-low and begin mixing the egg whites. Slowly add the hot syrup to the whites taking care not to pour onto the beaters, it may splash. When all the syrup is incorporated, raise the speed on the mixer to med-high and beat the egg whites until mixture has cooled and stiff meringue forms.
With the mixer on low, begin adding the cream cheese mixture by the spoonful. When all is incorporated, raise the speed to medium and whip until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
Cake Garnish:
2 ½ cups of sweetened flaked coconut for garnishing cake

Baby Shower

A couple months ago, we threw a baby shower for our friend Kathy, who was almost 8 months pregnant with baby Madeline. We decided to get it in before the holidays so Kathy wouldn't have to worry about it so close the the due date. It's a good thing we did, because baby Maddie decided to make her debut the next week, on Christmas Eve!

Onesie cookies

Baby Block cake

TWD- Devil's Food White Out Cake

Like other TWD-er's, I was looking forward to making the cover cake of the wonderful book we're using. It looks so wonderful- but I was in for a surprise skimming through the recipe. Cocoa powder AND chocolate chunks? YES! I was a little disappointed that the frosting is the seven-minute frosting type- marshmallowy and light. I was hoping for something more along the richer, creamier lines. But the cake did not disappoint. Moist and chocolatey- wonderful. I would like to try it with a different frosting, though.
I halved the recipe and made it in a 6" pan. One of the layers wasn't thick enough to split in two, so there aren't any crumbs on the outside. Check out Stephanie's blog for the recipe!

TWD- World Peace Cookies (or, the cookies that caused much internal un-peace)

Who loves Costco, raise your hand?!!
I hope all of you are raising your hand because Costco is the greatest place ever (except for maybe Wal-Mart. Oh, all you people who are down on Wal-Mart because of whatever reason-poopoo). I mean, where else can you get imported fresh mozzerella, sushi (if you count California rolls), the best big-as-your-head chocolate muffins, Dino-buddies, 50 pounds of bananas for $1.79 (ok, maybe 5 pounds), and cookbooks at half price in the same place?!! Not to mention the $1 churros at the food court!
But, alas, sometimes a match made in heaven (Costco and me) can encounter some bumpy times.
Yes, dear readers and fellow Costco-lovers, Costco did me wrong. I know there are two sides to every story and perhaps Costco has some defense, but since this is my blog, I'm going to say it's all Costco's fault. Costco sells large amounts of butter at a reasonable price. Like 4 pounds of butter for around $7.50. The problem is, the butter comes in 2 pound blocks. Blocks with no useful measurements on the wrappers. For instance, it has 1/4 cup markings. Then it says, 4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup. 8 tablespoons= 1/2 cup. Well, thanks. But with no tablespoon markings to be found, how am I supposed to get the 11 tablespoons required for these much-anticipated, Dorie-marked fave cookies (chosen by cookbook habit)? Ok, 11 is a little less than 3/4 c, I'll just cut a little less than 3/4 c, right? Well, whoever cut the butter before me (ok, it MAY have been me) also cut a little less than the mark (or a little more depending on how you look at it) so counting a little less than 3 marks from where it was previously cut was not that clear-cut (hehe). So I cut it where I thought was about right and moved on.
I was wrong.
The dough was crumbly. So I put some more butter in, even though the dry ingredients were already in (oops, it says don't overmix). Still crumbly. But the recipe says it will be crumbly. So I wrapped it up and chilled it. When I went to cut the dough into slices, I noticed in the recipe it said that the dough might fall apart a little; just press the pieces back together. Well, to make a long story short, my dough was so crumbly that I wasn't even able to slice it and put the crumbs back on, I just smashed the dough together and put it on the pan.It's not a pretty sight. But the bright side is these cookies are so amazing, then might be my new favorites. Chocolately, buttery, with chocolate chunks. They weren't even dry from my lack-of-measuring-butter skills. You might need to check out others' pictures before you're convinced that they're good because mine look like doo-doo, but you MUST make these. Fantastic! P.S. Mine weren't salty like Dorie described. Was anyone else's?

Daring Bakers- Tuiles

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They chose Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.
I made the regular tuiles paired with spumoni ice cream. The tuiles spread a LOT when I baked them so the three I had on my baking sheet turned into one. These were a lot of fun, if not very noteworthy in the taste category.Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.
Recipe:
Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

¼ cup softened butter (not melted but soft)
½ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
1/2 cup sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.
Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again.
If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Daring Bakers- Coming Soon

Well, we couldn't resist taking the girls to Disneyland last night, so the DB Challenge will be coming (don't ask what happened all the other nights this month)!

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant is something that, I think, if you didn't grow up eating it, is weird- it's bitter, it has weird seeds, it gets all brown. I can honestly say when I was growing up, we ate eggplant next to never. My mom is the best, but she worked full time and wasn't really the type to venture out in the cookbooks and make a variety of dishes. My husband's family, on the other hand, apparently ate it all the time. My mother in law is more prone to cooking the types of food in which eggplant would more commonly be found. They also lived in Italy for a few years when my husband was young, so that probably influenced her cooking as well. As such, my husband + eggplant = best friends. Me + eggplant = I have to think about it. But since he likes it so much, I usually cook it once a month in something. Or, if I'm lucky, he'll cook it in some pasta. The best eggplant recipe I've found so far is this sandwich from Cooking Light.
Until now.
Now, of course I've heard of eggplant parmesan and seen it at restaurants, but not being an eggplant fan, I was never one to try it. But I found a recipe on Simply Recipes (I'm trying a bunch of stuff on there now right now) and thought it sounded like something my husband would like. This recipe is straightforward, but a little time-consuming. Preparing the eggplant and frying it takes some time, so I did this on a Sunday. This recipe is wonderful! My husband said it tasted pretty authentic Italian. Even our 17 month old ate a ton of it (the 3 year old ate Apple Jacks, but 50% success is good for us).
I'm not really sure why you bread and fry the eggplant in oil, only to top it with cheese and tomato sauce, but hey that's what it says. Next time, I would probably just bake it instead of fry it. Also, make sure you slice the eggplant thinly so they're soft after baking. If you have small children, you may even want to skin the eggplants. I would NOT recommend skipping the initial draining step. Eggplants contain a lot of moisture. Salting them and letting them sit cuts down the moisture, as well as the bitterness.
Eggplant Parmesan Recipe
adapted from Simply Recipes
Ingredients
2 lbs (about 2 large) eggplants
Kosher salt
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes (I used no-salt added)
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
4 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 lbs of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds (I used an 8-oz pkg of shredded)

1 cup grated high quality Parmesan cheese
1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
Method
1 Cut eggplants lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange one layer in the bottom of a large colander and sprinkle evenly with salt. Repeat with remaining eggplant, salting, until all eggplant is in the colander. Weigh down the slices with a couple of plates and let drain for 2 hours. The purpose of this step is to have the eggplant release some of its moisture before cooking.
2 While the eggplant is draining, prepare tomato sauce. Combine tomatoes, garlic and 1/3 cup olive oil in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
3 When eggplant has drained, press down on it to remove excess water, wipe off the excess salt, and lay the slices out on paper towels to remove all the moisture. In a wide, shallow bowl, combine flour and breadcrumbs. Mix well. Pour beaten eggs into another wide shallow bowl. Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat, and pour in a a half inch of olive oil. When oil is shimmering, dredge the eggplant slices first in the flour mixture, then in the beaten egg. Working in batches, slide coated eggplant into hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once. Drain on paper towels.
4 Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bottom of a 10x15 inch glass baking dish, spread 1 cup of tomato sauce. Top with one third of the eggplant slices. Top eggplant with half of the mozzarella slices. Sprinkle with one third of the Parmesan and half of the basil leaves.
5 Make a second layer of eggplant slices, topped by 1 cup of sauce, remaining mozzarella, half the remaining Parmesan, and all of the remaining basil. Add remaining eggplant, and top with the remaining tomato sauce and Parmesan.
6 Bake until cheese has melted and the top is slightly brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 8.