Test recipe ~

Please note - I have tested several recipes since this one, and have settled on a final version. I'm leaving this one up, just for my own reference in the future, but the link in the side bar "Cake recipes" will no longer bring this one up, but instead, the new and my favorite version. Thanks to those of you who bore with me during trial and error, lol. XOXO

After struggling through several cakes this past week to find what I wanted (that being, I finally decided, a really coconutty-tasting coconut cake), I have come up with this recipe. It is NOT, I repeat NOT, the finally endorsed recipe, because there is one change I want to try in an attempt to lighten the cake just a little...but it's dadgum close. Really good. My mom and my daughter both say leave it alone, except add more lime glaze on top. LOL. When I try it with the one change, I'll add an addendum to this post (and a new post just to notify of the addendum, oh faithful reader - teehee!) and let you know what it was and how it affected the final product.

On to coconut heaven!

Coconut Pound Cake with Lime Glaze

(messed around with and adapted by Sis, lol)

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1/4 cup oil

3 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten until blended

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 cups coconut milk (NOT cream of coconut)

2 teaspoons coconut extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; grease and flour a Bundt pan; set aside. Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl; set aside. Mix coconut milk with coconut and vanilla extracts and set aside. Whip butter in mixer until light and fluffy; with mixer running, pour in sugar in a slow stream until all sugar is added; whip for a minute or so, then pour the 1/4 cup oil in slowly, with mixer running. Whip another minute. Add beaten eggs in 5 or 6 'batches', with mixer running, blending well with each addition. When well blended, stop the mixer and add 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Mix slowly until dry ingredients disappear; with mixer running on low speed, slowly pour in 1/2 of coconut milk mixture, until blended. Repeat: dry, then wet, then lastly, the final 1/3 of dry ingredients. Mix on low until dry ingredients disappear, then keep mixing on low for another minute, to be sure all ingredients are incorporated. Pour into prepared Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour, 10 minutes, checking at 1 hour with a cake tester or toothpick. When cake is done, remove and set on a rack (in the pan) for 15 minutes; then place rack over cake pan and invert, removing pan. Let cool completely. For the glaze, juice one lime into a bowl, and then add powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments, mixing well until you get the consistency you desire, which should be pourable, but a very slow pour. This will probably take about a cup or more of powdered sugar (this is a guess, since I didn't even come close to a measuring cup while making mine, LOL - also, please note, this is more glaze than you see in the pictures; I made that with the juice of half a lime but by popular request, I've increased it to one whole lime here). Spoon thickly onto cooled cake and let it run down the sides. Top with thin threads of lime zest, and cooled toasted coconut. Serving recommendation - serve with a huge glass of ice cold milk!