COCONUT CAKE

Today we will be baking a coconut cake for Easter.  Usually at Easter in my family we have a blessing of the Easter basket on the Saturday before Easter.  The basket is filled with cross bread, fresh polish sausage, horseradish, a butter lamb, a chocolate bunny, some hard boiled eggs and a babka.  I don't know what other families do but that is what we usually put in our baskets.  The basket is taken to church where it is blessed by the parish priest.  When we come home for church that is what we have for lunch.  I love this tradition, but so far have not been able to find a church in the area that still does the blessing. I think I liked the blessing of the basket more than the Easter candy when I was little.  All the baskets would be lined up on tables and I could go around looking at all the pretty eggs in each of them.  Some of them would be decorated so beautifully. For some reason we always had coconut cake at that time too.  So today by niece is here visiting from Elba New York and she and I are going to make the cake.

We begin with preheating the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease three 8 or 9 inch cake pans, I use Bakers Joy spray cause it is just so easy.  Then into a large bowl sift
3  1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut

Now with an electric mixer and using the paddle attachment mix 3 sticks of unsalted butter with 2 2/3 cups of sugar for about 3 minutes.  Then add four large whole eggs one at a time beating after each addition, then add 4 egg whites beat just until incorporated.

With the mixer on low speed slowly add the flour mixture alternately with  1 1/2 cups of unsweetened coconut milk.

Batter will be thick.  Pour into three greased cake pans and bake for about 55 minutes.