Coconut Cake, Rich's Department Store Bakeshop

By MarieR

Ingredients

• RICH'S BAKESHOP ICING:
• shortening and flour for pans
• RICH'S BAKESHOP YELLOW CAKE
• 2 1/4 cups cake flour(if you can't find cake flour, use White Lily brand all-purpose flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon powdered milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup liquid milk (2 percent or whole)
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound confectioner's sugar
• 2 tablespoons powdered milk
• 1/2 cup water (for dissolving milk)
• RICH'S COCONUT FILLING:
• 2 pounds frozen shredded coconut, *unsweetened or sweetened, divided
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Details

Servings 1

Preparation

Step 1

Hands on time: 20 minutes Total time: 1 hour and 30 minutes Serves: 16

Ingredients: Rich's always did a three-layer cake, with two layers of coconut filling, but some home cooks don't have three pans of the same size, so two would work just fine.
(*Recipe tested with unsweetened coconut)
Instructions:
TO MAKE THE YELLOW CAKE LAYERS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake pans by lightly greasing with shortening, then dusting with flour. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir the powdered milk into the water and mix until dissolved. Combine the liquid milk with the powdered milk/water mixture and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add about half the flour mixture, beating until just incorporated, and then half the milk mixture, again beating until just incorporated. Repeat this step, adding the remaining flour with the remaining liquid, and beat until just smooth (about 1 minute). Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowls once or twice during the mixing. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake for about 20 to 30 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on how many cake pans you use and how full they are. The cake is done when it springs back when lightly pressed near the center with your finger. Allow the cake to cool for a few minutes in the pan, and then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely.

TO MAKE ICING:

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the vegetable shortening, vanilla and salt and cream together until incorporated. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar until it forms a very thick consistency. Dissolve the powdered milk in the water and gradually add, just 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time, until the icing is a nice, spreadable consistency.