Monday, February 15, 2010

Fresh Coconut Mousse Cake

This is the cake Kurt chose for his birthday this year. It wasn’t just any birthday, so the cake needed to be a little special. This cake was made to celebrate Kurt’s 40th birthday. We actually did quite a lot of celebrating for this momentous, milestone of a birthday. We spent a long weekend in Las Vegas and indulged in several incredible meals. Sure, there was a little gambling and we were there for Super Bowl weekend, but all those interesting restaurants in such close proximity to one another was the highlight for me. I’ve included descriptions of our meals and links to the restaurants on facebook. You can read all about it and even become a fan if you’d like while you’re there. So, after returning home, I baked this festive cake and the celebration continued. The cake is found in The Greyston Bakery Cookbook. With freshly grated coconut and coconut mousse between the layers and as frosting, I was pretty sure this was going to be good.

In the book, it’s presented as a three-layer, eight inch cake. I made two nine-inch layers instead. The cake itself is very straightforward, and the batter is made with flour, baking powder, salt, egg yolks, sugar, melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract. There was supposed to have been some coconut extract which I wasn’t able to locate, so I used coconut milk instead of cow’s milk. Maybe I should have tried a baking specialty store to find coconut extract because it was nowhere to be found at Central Market, Whole Foods, Williams Sonoma, or Sur la Table. The coconut milk was a fine substitution, and once the batter was mixed, egg whites beaten to a state of stiff peaks were folded into it. The cakes baked for about 30 minutes and were cooled. Don’t skip the parchment rounds in the pans before pouring in the batter, because these cakes were not the easiest to remove. While the cakes cooled, a very simple mousse was made with just heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and freshly grated coconut. Again, there should have been some coconut extract, but I skipped it. The recipe suggests using two coconuts worth of gratings for the mousse and for decorating the cake, but I used one and had plenty. I grated the coconut finely for the mousse. Then, for the outside of the cake, I grated larger pieces of coconut and toasted them in a 400 F oven for eight minutes or so. I liked the look of the toasted coconut, and the nutty flavor and crisper texture of it were nice too.

I was a little worried the whipped cream mousse may not hold up well in the refrigerator after a day or so, but I was completely wrong about that. The cake survived well for four days with no running mousse at all. In fact, it was still light, airy, tender, and delicious right to the end. The coconut extract may have given it even more flavor, but as it was, it didn’t seem lacking to me. Kurt was happy with his birthday cake, and hopefully that’s not just because he’s so old he doesn’t even know what he’s eating anymore.





35 comments:

  1. You know my mom used to make coconut cake for my sisters b-day, was her fav, now I want it!

    I am going to give this a go...gosh you so get me in trouble...

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  2. I have been coconutty for several months now and this would be the pinnacle! It's no wonder that it was Kurt's choice - I love everything about this cake. The toasted coconut looks divine!

    Even without tasting this, I feel that your adaptations for lack of coconut extract were spot on and probably even better. Fresh coconut is infinitely better than any extract! I have no doubt that Kurt tasted every scrumptious bit of your creation. 8-)

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  3. Having followed your coconut efforts on Twitter, I can say it is such a treat to see the results in person and they look stupendous. That cake just looks exceptional.

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  4. That looks... I don't think I'd be able to practice moderation with that cake. And it's beautiful. Extra super coconut bliss. Well done.

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  5. Wow, that looks like an incredible cake. I may choose it for my birthday this year...although that would require me making it for myself...so maybe not!

    Happy 40th Kurt! I'm not too far behind you!

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  6. This coconut cake looks so pretty and exotic Lisa.

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  7. It is gorgeous! A marvelous cake!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  8. Wow, a gorgeous cake! The coconut mousse layer sounds incredible!

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  9. The coconut cake looks so stunning! I wish I could have just had a bite of it....

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  10. OMG, I want this so much right now, but Lent just begun. This is going to be a delight to eat in about 6 weeks. Gorgeous & bravo!

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  11. I don't even like coconut, and I want this!

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  12. That is a gorgeous cake! Happy Birthday to Kurt!

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  13. Ha Ha, very funny. I am coming up on 40 in a few months and am just realizing I am going to have to bake my own cake. Don't you LOVE that cookbook? I've looked at that recipe so many times. Glad to know it turned out so well.

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  14. I love Coconut cake I dont beleive I have ever seen one more yummy than this one!

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  15. That looks absolutely fabulous! Definitely bookmarking this one...

    BTW, I'd be willing to bet that the All In One Bake Shop would have coconut extract.

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  16. Oh I love the sound of this cake!!
    Looks beautiful :)

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  17. "...he's so old he doesn't know what he's eating anymore."--ha.

    meanwhile, this is amazing. frankly, i'm going to have to really fight the urge to buy this book solely for this recipe. :)

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  18. What a delicious looking cake! Love that you used coconut milk - I bet it added a nice richness to it. And the mousse? Heavenly!

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  19. Wow, this is a very special birthday cake indeed.

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  20. I love coconut!! And coconut cake is really good! I like your take on it with fresh coconut & coconut cream is the BEST! YUM!

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  21. This is a birthday cake to end all birthday cakes. I admit that I usually opt for chocolate. But this is so lovely that it looks like an edible, airy cloud. Two big thumbs up!

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  22. Wow, your coconut cake looks absolutely gorgeous...I can assure you that I will love the taste of it :-) Nice pictures and sure it makes a wonderful birthday cake!

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  23. wow, this looks beautiful. such an elegant cake.

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  24. The cake looks really elegant. I think it's more beautiful than the usual birthday sponge cake.

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  25. Lisa that looks amazingly light and fluffy! Great job with it and good to know that it lasts too (not that it would last that long around me hehe ) :)

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  26. Now that's a gorgeous cake! I love the whipped cream mousse.

    Happy Birthday to Kurt!

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  27. White and so pretty. We live in coconut country of sorts and I know my husband woould love this one. Coconut is one of his favourites!

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  28. Wow coconut cake! I'm a fan of coconut, as Aparna says, we live in coconut country!! :)

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  29. That looks gloriously good! Looks so beautiful and divine.

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  30. This is the stuff dreams are made of. Which is what I'll be doing until I have time to make this gorgeous, heavenly cake. I'm not big on cake but a creamy coconut one gets me really excited!

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  31. you could always get some coconut flavored rum to use as the coconut extract being hard to find.

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