6/99: Southern (Manhattan) Coconut Cake with Silk Meringue Buttercream

Dear coconut lovers,

I believe that I have just discovered your cake. Not only does this cake have a ton of coconut in it (Coconut flakes, ground coconut, coconut milk, coconut extract), but it also has a bit of my beverage of choice: Malibu Rum.

The cake is incredibly soft and moist. If that's not enough to tempt you then you have to try the icing as a compliment to the cake.  At first I didn't love it because I'm not a huge fan of the texture of coconut on the sides (though I adore the flavor) but the more I ate, the more I fell in love.

The cakes turned out beautifully. Here's one still in the pan:

 

 To create the silk meringue buttercream, you have to make an Italian meringue and Crème Anglaise ... and include a few other ingredients including, as aforementioned, Malibu rum. 

First you make the Crème Anglaise which is basically eggs sugar and water. You let it cool for awhile before you add it to the buttercream mixture.

And this is the Italian meringue. It is so beautiful- it truly had a creamy silk sheen while I was mixing it together.  This part has a lot of the coconut in it- yum.

 So finally, a few hours later, the coconut flakes (I got some fresh ones at the DeKalb Farmer's market!) were sprinkled on the side and it was ready to eat!

Here's where I took a slice out: It does look a bit like heaven, doesn't it?

So thank you Rose for yet another lovely cake recipe.

Rose's Heavenly Cakes
Batter- page 23
Silk Meringe Buttercream- page 25
      - Crème Anglaise- page 25
      - Italian Meringue- page 26