Coconut Layered Cake

From Elizabeth Brown’s Easter Party
This is the recipe:

The cake is a white cake
Mix. Not yellow or vanilla. Make sure it’s “white”. I bake 2-3 cake rounds. If you do two cake rounds - after they are baked and cooked, I cut them in half - making four thin layers.

The filling is
2c sour cream
2c sugar
2c shredded coconut
Mix the sour cream and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Add in coconut and mix until blended. Now divide this in half. One half will go in between the cake layers.

For the frosting, take the other filling portion and mix it with a container or cool whip.

To assemble - spoon filling over each layer. Stack however many layers you dream of ;)

Frost with cool whip mixture! Viola!

Best Almond Cake

Best Almond Cake

To perfect this elegant European dessert, we deepened its flavor and lightened its texture—and did it all in a food processor.

SERVES 8 TO 10

If you can’t find blanched sliced almonds, grind slivered almonds for the batter and use unblanched sliced almonds for the topping. Serve plain or with Orange Crème Fraîche (see related content).

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2cups plus 1/3 cup blanched sliced almonds, toasted
• 3/4cup (3 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 3/4teaspoon salt
• 1/4teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8teaspoon baking soda
• 4large eggs
• 1 1/4cups (8 3/4 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 3/4teaspoon almond extract
• 5tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3cup vegetable oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. Pulse 1½ cups almonds, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in food processor until almonds are finely ground, 5 to 10 pulses. Transfer almond mixture to bowl.
   2. Process eggs, 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, and almond extract in now-empty processor until very pale yellow, about 2 minutes. With processor running, add melted butter and oil in steady stream, until incorporated. Add almond mixture and pulse to combine, 4 to 5 pulses. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
   3. Using your fingers, combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest in small bowl until fragrant, 5 to 10 seconds. Sprinkle top of cake evenly with remaining 1/3 cup almonds followed by sugar-zest mixture.
   4. Bake until center of cake is set and bounces back when gently pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes, rotating pan after 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Run paring knife around sides of pan. Invert cake onto greased wire rack, discard parchment, and reinvert cake onto second wire rack. Let cake cool, about 2 hours. Cut into wedges and serve. (Store cake in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

   
   

   ORANGE CREME FRAICHE

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

The lightly sweetened tang of crème fraîche provides contrast to the sweetness of our Best Almond Cake, and the small pieces of orange offer refreshing bursts of citrus.

MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS

INGREDIENTS

• 2oranges
• 1cup crème fraîche - (You can buy this in the store or you can make your own.  1 C Heavy Cream                               2 tablespoons buttermilk - In a bowl combine cream and buttermilk.  Cover with a clean kitchen cloth in a warm, draft-free place and let sit until thickened, but still a pourable consistency, 12-16 hours.  Stir and refrigerate until ready to use.  (Can be refrigerated for up to 1 week)
• 2tablespoons sugar
• 1/8teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Remove 1 teaspoon zest from 1 orange. Cut away peel and pith from oranges. Slice between membranes to release segments and cut segments into 1/4-inch pieces (I diced mine). Combine orange pieces and zest, crème fraîche, sugar, and salt in bowl and mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

 WE GOT THE BEST ALMOND FLAVOR—AND CAKE TEXTURE

For a rich, nutty taste and a consistency that’s not too dense, we toast blanched almonds (we dislike the slight bitterness imparted by skin-on almonds) to deepen their flavor. Then we grind them in the food processor. The ground nuts give the crumb an open, rustic texture.

START WITH BLANCHED ALMONDS

TOAST UNTIL GOLDEN BROWN

GRIND WITH FLOUR, SALT, AND LEAVENERS

EGG FOAMS: MIXER VERSUS FOOD PROCESSOR

The goal when mixing most cake batters is to incorporate a lot of air into the eggs so that the cake will bake up light and tall, and a mixer is usually the best tool to get the job done. For our Best Almond Cake, however, we wanted a flat, level top; just a moderate rise; and a texture that was neither too fluffy nor too dense. Ditching the mixer in favor of a food processor did the trick. Here’s why: When eggs and sugar are whipped in a mixer, the whisk gently unfolds the protein strands in the eggs while incorporating lots of air, producing a foam with a strong network that holds on to that air. The outcome? A tall, well-risen, domed cake. A food processor, with its high rpm and very sharp blade, similarly unravels the eggs’ protein strands and incorporates air, but it also damages some strands along the way. The result is just what we were after: a flatter, slightly denser cake.

MIXER: Tall and domed.

FOOD PROCESSOR: Perfectly flat.

Lemon Bundt Cake - Delicious

1 plain Yellow or lemon cake mix (No pudding in it)

3 oz  pkg. lemon Jell-O (I put in Lemon Pudding) (I put 3oz packs of BOTH lemon Jello AND lemon pudding)

2/3 C veg. Oil (1/2 C veg. oil) (If you use both the pudding and jello, put in the full 2/3 cup)

2/3 C Hot water (1/2 C Hot water) (If you use both the pudding and the jello, put in the full 2/3 cup)

4 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

Mix for 1 min. then scrape sides of bowl and continue mixing for 2-3 more mins., until it is thick and smooth.

Pour into well greased and floured bundt cake pan.

Bake at 350˚ for 40 (45) (45-50) min.  Check and if pan is pulling away from sides of pan take out and let cool for 10-15 mins.  And then tip cake out of pan.

*The things I changed, makes it much more moist and dense.  I like it better - MOM
*The things I changed and it was DIVINE...moist, dense, super lemony...need I say more?;)-Jenny

GLAZE

½ C (1/2-3/4 to preference)  powdered sugar

2 Tlbs. Fresh lemon juice
1 Tbls fresh lime juice

1 tsp. grated zest of lemon
1/2 tsp grated zest of lime

(You can add more lemon and lime - both juice and zest to make it more tart)

Mix together until smooth.  I double this because people always want more glaze.

Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake

Cake:

• 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 egg
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey. Serve with fresh whipped cream.