Toasted Coconut Pound Cake

Pound Cake is a type of cake made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. A traditional pound cake recipe makes a cake much bigger than what a family of 4 members can consume. Hence the quantity is changed to suit the size of the cake we desire. As long as the ratio is preserved to 1: 1: 1: 1 of flour, butter, eggs and sugar , the resulting cake will be identical to traditional pound cake.

Couple of days back I came across this cake recipe on one of the groups in Facebook. The cake looked absolutely divine. It is a variation of traditional pound cake : Toasted coconut pound cake - flavoured with sweetened toasted coconut ! The cake recipe was from Soul Kitchen at the url http://cookingfromthesoul.blogspot.in/ . I followed the recipe from Soul Kitchen to make this cake. Coconut flavour is very subtle and adds a nice crunch to the cake. The cake is not very sweet and perfect accompaniment with Coffee/ Tea.

Preparation Time : 30 Min
Baking time : 50 Min
Yield : one 6 inch Loaf
Recipe Source : Soul Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 Cup All purpose flour
• 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• a big pinch of salt
• 2/3 Cup Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 Cup granulated Sugar
• 2 Eggs at room temperature
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Milk at room temperature
• 3/4 Cup toasted sweetened shredded coconut 

For the glaze

• 1/2 Cup confectioners Sugar/ Icing Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Milk at room temperature

Preparation :

Prepare sweetened shredded coconut : ( I do not get shredded coconut in stores here. You can use readily available shredded coconut instead of preparing it at home)

 

 

1. Peel/ remove brown skin of coconut. We need just the white flesh of coconut. Grate/shred white part of coconut
2. In a bowl take 1/2 Cup water and add 2 Tablespoon granulated sugar. Add grated coconut to the sweet water and soak for 30 min
3. Drain and pat dry in a paper towel
4. Preheat Oven at 180 C / 350 F
4. In a oven safe tray , spread the sweetened coconut and toast them at 180 C. Watch carefully and move it around every 3 to 4 min for even browning. They may burn very quickly, so you need to watch close
5. Once coconut is browned, remove from Oven and let it cool

Directions for Baking the cake

1. Preheat oven to 180 C, grease a 6 inch loaf pan and set aside
2. In a bowl, sieve AP flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt together for 2 times and set aside
3. In a separate bowl beat butter with a hand mixer for a min. Then add sugar and cream butter and sugar for 2 more min
4. Add eggs one at a time and beat well until everything is mixed together. Now add vanilla extract and beat one more time
5. Adding dry ingredients to wet mixture : Add flour in 3 additions alternating with milk. Beat until dry ingredients are evenly incorporated in wet mixture and there is no lump
6. Finally fold in 2/3 of toasted sweetened coconut in the batter
7. Pour the batter in the greased loaf pan and bake at 180 C for 45 to 50 min
8. Start watching the cake after 45 min. Bake until the tooth pick inserted comes out clean. My cake was done in 50 min. However the original recipe was to bake it for 60 min. It depends on the oven I guess
9. Once done, remove from the oven and let it cool
10. Mean while prepare the glaze by whisking together confectioners  / icing sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons milk
11. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and sprinkle the remaining toasted coconut over the glaze. Drizzle glaze when the cake is warm, that way it will get absorbed easily and add sweetness to the cake
12. Serve warm with coffee/ Tea