Coconut Layer Cake

Stuck inside with a new kitchen = baking a complicated cake! Right now the parts are all made, just not assembled. While I'm waiting, I'll post the recipe.

10 T butter, softened
2 c cake flour
1/2 c shredded coconut (which I had in the house randomly!)
1 1/4 c sugar
3 eggs, 2 egg yolks (reserve whites for frosting)
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 almond extract
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3/4 c half and half


Preheat oven to 350. Since mine is testy, I preheated it for awhile. Butter the pans (sides and bottom) and flour them. You can also cut a circle of wax or parchment paper for them. I used two 9" round pans; you can use what you have but you'll need to adjust the cooking time up or down, depending.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter then gradually add the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time. Make sure to keep scraping the sides until it's well mixed. Add in the vanilla and almond extracts and salt.

Next, mix together dry ingredients (coconut, flour, baking soda) alternate adding the flour and milk by hand, mixing just until smooth. Overmixing the cake can make the finished product more tough.

Scoop the batter evenly into the two pans and spread out using a spatula. You may want to "spank" the bottom to make it spread evenly. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake and make frosting (next post!).

To make the cake extra rich, I'm also making vanilla pudding to put in between the layers. YUM.