Easy Coconut Pound Cake

There is nothing better than making your own cakes and eating them! This is a delicious, yet easy to make coconut pound cake adapted from a recipe by Sarah Carey in Everyday Foods. As usual, when making all cakes, one has to ensure accurate measurements of ingredients. Measuring out the ingredients is the most time consuming part of making any cake other than decorating it. I made this many times without fail but when I tried making it in Malaysia for my parents and relatives, it became a disaster; probably due to the moisture content in the flour in hot climate. Instead of measuring 2 cups of flour, scooped and leveled, I had to adjust the flour amount to 400 g in order for the cake to turn out right. This recipe is mainly for my friend, Helen Wong, whose office is near mine. She asked me for it because her son loves it when I chanced to share the cake with her. Hope it will be her family's favorite and yours too!

Utensils needed:-

1 x Shallow baking tray

1 x 9"x 5" loaf baking pan

Silicone spatula

Scale

Bowls

Measuring spoons

Several bowls and mixing bowls

Wire whisk

Electric hand mixer

Parchment paper

Ingredients:-

170 g unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs at room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour (scooped into the measuring cup and leveled using a knife or spatula)

1&1/2 teaspoon baking power

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup + 2 tablespoons *buttermilk (save 2 tablespoons for decorating the cake when cooled) 

1&1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut (or desiccated coconut) lightly toasted (save 1/4 cup for decorating cake when cooled)

1 cup confectioner's sugar (icing sugar) (for decorating the cake when cooled)

*(make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar to one cup of whole milk or 1%/2%/skim milk; gently stir once and let the mixture sit for 20 minutes)

Method:-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line the loaf pan with parchment paper.

Line the shallow baking tray with parchment paper and place the 1&1/2 cups shredded coconut to toast it lightly - for 3 minutes at 200 degrees F or until it is just slightly brown. Watch it carefully because it can brown and burn easily. Once toasted, set aside to cool and save 1/4 cup for topping the cake when cooked and cooled.

Measure out all the ingredients and place them individually in separate bowls.

Place the all-purpose flour, baking powder, sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix thoroughly using a wire whisk.

Using another large mixing bowl, place butter and sugar together into the mixing bowl. Beat butter and sugar together using an electric hand mixer on medium to high speed until it looks pale and fluffy. Scrape down bowl as you beat.

Add and beat vanilla extract into the butter mixture until well mixed.

Then beat in eggs, one at at time (make sure each egg is well beaten into the butter and sugar each time). Scrape down bowl as you beat.

Turn mixer speed to low and add flour mixture in three separate additions to the butter mixture, alternating the first two flour additions with 1/2 cup of buttermilk after each addition of flour. (Meaning you beat in 1/3 portion of flour, followed by beating in 1/2 cup of buttermilk, another 1/3 portion of flour, followed by the rest of 1/2 cup of buttermilk and ending with the last 1/3 portion of flour). Mix well after each addition but DO NOT over beat. Turn off your electric mixer.

Lastly, add in the 1&1/4 cups of toasted shredded coconut, mix into the cake batter by hand until just combined, using a spatula.

Transfer batter into prepared loaf pan, place pan into the preheated oven and bake for 45-60 minutes until cake tester/toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean. Turn off oven and remove loaf pan from oven.

Remove cake from loaf pan 10 minutes after removing from oven. Set cake to cool completely on a wire rack.

Mix 1 cup of confectioner's/icing sugar with 2 tablespoons of buttermilk. Leave cake on wire rack; using a spoon, drizzle the icing over the top of cake and sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup of toasted shredded coconut.

Cut and serve with your favorite coffee/tea/milk. Cake stores well in freezer when wrapped with plastic food wrap and zipped in a freezer bag for up to a week. Defrost in the fridge and serve when needed.

Enjoy!!!