crumbs from my counter: Coo-Coo for Coconut-A Labor of Love

Jason and I watched an episode of "Good Eats" with Alton Brown a looooong time ago in which he was making a coconut cake, from scratch. He said to plan on it taking up half of your weekend but that it would be totally worth it. He was right, on both counts.

Mom invited us over for New Years Day dinner and she didn't even ask me to bring anything. I thought I would surprise her with the coconut cake. She loves her some coconut; which is kinda shocking since she hates fruit of ANY KIND. My mom will tell you that she likes apple pie and cherry pie - but she doesn't tell you that she picks out every single piece of fruit. She loves banana pudding-without the bananas and she loves pineapple upside down cake without the pineapple. Go figure. Every year for her birthday, Jason teases her and tells her he got her a fruit basket or a membership to Fruit of the Month Club. It's funny every time.

Jason and I started the cake on Friday morning; it was finished at 5 PM. I could not have done it without him. I would have ended up crying and throwing the coconut againsts the wall.

Ingredients
1 coconut *see below*
For the cake:
Vegetable shortening, for cake pan
3 cups of CAKE FLOUR (yes, cake; flour do not skimp)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup fresh coconut milk **see below**
1/2 cup fresh coconut cream **see below**
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon coconut extract
4 egg whites
1/3 cup coconut water

For the 7-Minute Frosting:
3 large egg whites
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup coconut water
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated coconut from 1 coconut, approximately 8 to 10 ounces

Directions
**Opening the coconut: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the coconut onto a folded towel set down in a large bowl. Find the 3 eyes on 1 end of the coconut and using a nail or screwdriver and hammer or meat mallet, hammer holes into 2 of the eyes. Turn the coconut upside down over a container and drain the water from the coconut. Store the water in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Place the coconut onto a 1/2 sheet pan and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. The coconut should have cracked in several places. Using an oyster knife or other dull blade, separate the hard shell from the brown husk. Using a serrated vegetable peeler, peel the brown husk from the coconut meat. Rinse the coconut meat under cool water and pat dry. Break the meat into 2 to 3-inch pieces. With the grater disk attached to a food processor, grate the coconut.

For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 (9-inch) cake pans. Flour the greased cake pans. Set aside.

Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
This is cake flour, use it-I'm not messing around here.

**The coconut milk directions:
For the milk:
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
1/2 cup boiling 2 percent milk
For cream:
1 cup freshly grated coconut
1/2 cup boiling 2 percent milk

For the milk:
Place 1/2 cup of the coconut into a small mixing bowl and pour over the boiling milk. Stir to combine. Cover tightly and allow to sit for 1 hour. Transfer the mixture to the carafe of a blender and process for 1 minute.

Place a tea towel over a mixing bowl and carefully pour the mixture into it. Gather up the edges and squeeze until all of the liquid has been removed.

For the cream:
Repeat the same procedure as above only using 1 cup of freshly grated coconut

Combine the coconut milk and coconut cream in small bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, cream on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the sugar slowly over 1 to 2 minutes. Once all of the sugar has been added, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Turn the mixer back on to medium speed and continue creaming until the mixture noticeably lightens in texture and increases slightly in volume, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the coconut extract.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture to the butter and sugar in 3 batches, ending with the milk mixture. Do not over mix.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter, just until combined. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bang the pans on the counter top several times to remove any air and to distribute the batter evenly in the pan. Place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is light golden in color and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Cool the cake in the pans for 10 minutes then remove and transfer to a cooling rack. Once the cakes have cooled completely cut across the equator of each to form 4 layers. Place the 1/3 cup coconut water into a small spritz bottle and spray evenly onto the cut side of the 4 layers. If you do not have a spritz bottle you may brush the coconut water on with a silicone pastry brush. Allow to sit while preparing the frosting.

Frosting:
Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a 4-quart saucepan over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium to maintain a steady simmer. In the meantime, place the egg whites, sugar, coconut water, cream of tartar and salt into a medium size-mixing bowl. Place the bowl over the simmering water and immediately begin beating with an electric hand mixer set to low speed. Beat for 1 minute and then increase the speed to high and continue to beat for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat in the coconut and vanilla extracts for 1 minute. Allow the frosting to sit for 5 minutes before using.

Place approximately 3/4 cup of the frosting on the first layer of cake, sprinkle with some fresh coconut and top with the next layer. Repeat until you reach the top layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake and sprinkle with the remaining coconut. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.