A Coconut Cake For No Particular Occasion

This weekend I finally broke down and bought the necessary 9" cake pans for a three layer cake I've been stalking from Cooking Light. It may have been that it incorporated a whole coconut, the water and flesh.

It's also the part that proved to be most time consuming. If anyone has tips on shaving the flesh of a coconut, please share! After successfully hammering (literally with a hammer and nail) three holes into the coconut, I drained a cup of water that was used for the cake batter, which also includes:
3 C cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 C sugar
2/3 C butter
1 C warm coconut water
1 tsp vanilla
6 lg. egg whites
Preheat oven to 350. Coat 3 cake pans with nonstick spray. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Place 1.5 C plus 2 tbsp sugar in large bowl, combine with butter and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture and coconut water. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add 2 tbsp sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter, pour into pans. Bake 18-20 minutes.

The frosting is Italian meringue which I was on the fence about. It came out to sort of a marshmallow consistency. It made for a lighter cake, which I suppose isn't surprising considering the recipe is from Cooking Light.

Frosting:
Combine 4 lg egg whites with 1/4tsp cream of tartar and a pinch of salt in large bowl. Beat until foamy. Add 2 tbsp sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Combine 1 1/4 C sugar with 1/4 water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Slowly pour the hot syrup over the egg whites, beat for about 8 minutes until frosting has cooled. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla. Toast the shaved coconut you slaved over with a dull blade. Frost and layer cakes.


Sprinkle cake with coconut, but not the stuff you burnt until it blackened, oops.

Cut and enjoy! P.S.-if you're wondering what to do with the TEN egg yolks, try this.