This is my mother-in-law Juanita Hollan's recipe. We always made it together at Christmas. We would make them as gifts for friends and teachers and the like. It's been a tradition for us for many, many years. My husband would take the hammer and break the coconut and often grate his hands while doing it. It's a lot of trouble to make it from fresh coconut so . . . these days I sometimes cheat a little.
Coconut Cake
2 sticks salted sweet cream butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs separated
2 2/3 cups sifted cake flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbs + 1 tsp baking powder
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp coconut extract
Icing
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup coconut
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and beat some more. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Add the coconut extract. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour even amounts of the batter in three greased and floured 8-inch cake pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool.
Whip heavy cream. Then add coconut. Ice the cooled cake.
