Ingredients
- Cake:
- 2 1/2 cups (300g) cake flour*
- 1/2 cup (70g) all purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups + 3 tablespoons (445g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (120ml) coconut milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk
- 1 1/4 cups (125g) sweetened flaked coconut
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Icing:
- 2 cups (280g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons coconut milk
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 22x32cm (13x9in) baking pan**.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter for 3 minutes on medium speed. Add the confectioners’ sugar in 3 additions, beating well after each addition, then beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, 2 at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Blend in the vanilla. On low speed, alternately add the sifted ingredients in 3 additions with the milks in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted ingredients. Blend in the coconut.
In a clean, medium bowl whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar until firm peaks form. Gradually fold the egg whites into the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top. Bake until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Make the icing: sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. Gradually add the coconut milk, stirring, until desired consistency. Pour over the cooled cake and set aside until icing is set, about 30 minutes – since I used a pan with a removable bottom, I removed the sides of the pan before pouring the icing over the cake.
* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch
**I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (8x12in) pan