L ifestyle /C ulture
Triple Coconut Cake
F OO D
KERI WHITE | JE FOOD COLUMNIST
THIS CAKE WAS BORN out
of a surplus of coconut cream.

My daughter used a portion of
a can for quinoa porridge, and
I wanted to use the rest before
it went bad.

I am always on the lookout
for tasty pareve desserts, and
this one fit the bill. The cake
itself is a riff on a traditional
vanilla batter cake that is
topped with caramel.

The caramel glaze, which
normally uses heavy cream
and butter, came together with
coconut cream and coconut
oil instead. I used unsweet-
ened coconut for the topping
— toasted then mixed with
confectioner’s sugar — but
sweetened, flaked coconut
would do the job, too, toasted or
not. Hence the “triple coconut
cake” moniker.

Because it is pareve, the
cake can follow any dinner.

And it can go in many different
directions. There is definitely a
Southern vibe: Coconut layer
cake is an iconic and tradi-
tional dessert down South.

But I also feel this pulling
to South Asia — Thai, Indian,
Malaysian and other cuisines
in that part of the world
use a lot of coconut in both
savory and sweet dishes. You
could certainly highlight that
culinary geography by adding
chopped fresh mango as a
garnish at the table or mixing
ginger or cardamom into the
cake batter.

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Makes a 9-inch round cake,
or about 8 servings, depending
upon how you slice it
A note on the ingredients: To
achieve maximum coconut
flavor, use unrefined virgin
coconut oil; it has a much
stronger coconut flavor. Most
refined coconut oil has little or
no coconut flavor. As for the
coconut cream, this is a thicker,
higher-fat version of coconut
milk. If you can’t find it, full-fat
coconut milk will work, but the
caramel will be a bit thinner.

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medium until fluffy. Add the
eggs, one at a time, mixing well
after each. Add the coconut
cream and blend again. Sift the
TRIPLE COCONUT CAKE
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Strictly Kosher
And there’s an association oil, line it with parchment, then
with Mexican and Central spray the parchment. Set it aside.

American cuisines, which
In a mixing bowl, blend
frequently use coconut as the coconut oil and sugar on
an indigenous ingredient.

Consider adding lime zest and
juice to the various compo-
nents, or serve it with sliced
pineapple to enhance the
Mexican angle.

Finally, if you and yours
despise coconut, you can tweak
the cake by substituting equal
amounts of butter, margarine
or shortening for the coconut
oil, and buttermilk, regular
milk or non-dairy milk for the
coconut cream. In the caramel,
swap heavy cream and butter
(or non-dairy substitutes) for
the coconut ingredients.

If you want a crunchy
topping that doesn’t involve
coconut, you can toast chopped
almonds, pecans or walnuts —
or skip that step entirely and
let the caramel glaze stand on
its own.

½ cup coconut oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coconut cream
2 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Heat your oven to 350 F,
spray a round cake pan with
JEWISH EXPONENT
Triple coconut cake with caramel glaze
Photos by Keri White
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dry ingredients into the bowl
and mix until fully blended.

Th e batter will be thick.

Scrape the mixture into the
prepared pan and bake for 35
minutes until done and lightly
brown. Th e cake is done when
the center springs back when
lightly pressed with your fi nger
or a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool the cake for a few
minutes and, when it is cool
enough to handle, invert it,
removed the parchment and
place it back in the pan or on
a cake plate to glaze. Using a
skewer or chopstick, poke holes
in the cake so that the caramel
can permeate when poured over.

Th e caramel glaze:
¾ ¼
½ ½
cup sugar
cup water
cup coconut cream
cup coconut oil
In a medium saucepan,
melt the sugar and water over
medium heat and let boil until
caramelized; this will take
about 10 minutes. It must be
watched carefully, as once it
begins to caramelize it will go
from liquid gold to scorched
black tar quickly.

When the sugar and water
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM mixture has reached a golden
color and a syrup-like texture,
add the coconut cream. Stir and
allow it to blend to a smooth
texture. If the sugar crystal-
lizes, don’t worry, just keep
stirring over a low heat until it
melts again. Add the coconut
oil, and stir again until the
caramel is golden and thick.

Pour the hot caramel slowly
over the cake, allowing it to
drip into the holes. Let the cake
cool a bit before topping it with
toasted coconut.

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Th e toasted coconut topping:
¾ cup unsweetened
shredded coconut
⅓ cup powdered sugar
In a medium-sized skillet,
heat the coconut over medium,
stirring and turning occasion-
ally with a spatula, while
watching carefully. Aft er about
8-10 minutes, the coconut will
begin to turn golden — once
it starts to brown, the toasting
happens quickly. Stir until all
of the coconut is toasted, and
pour it into a small bowl. Add
the sugar and stir.

Pour the toasted coconut
over the caramel glaze on top
of the cake. ●
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