Coconut Cake

My husband Doug and I both love coconut. When we were planning our wedding, we decided that we wanted the groom's cake to be coconut. However, since coconut is a fairly mild flavor, it can be hard to find a cake recipe that really tastes coconut-y. I tried a couple recipes (with Doug being a very eager taste tester) and came up with this one, which is the one we used.


Cake:

1 box white cake mix (without pudding in the mix)

1 3.5 oz package coconut cream pudding mix
3 eggs
1-1/4 cup milk
1 tsp coconut extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Add eggs, milk, coconut extract, and butter. Blend thoroughly for 3-5 minutes to give the pudding time to develop. Gently stir in flaked coconut. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350^○ for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown on top and done in the center.

Frosting:

1 can white (not vanilla) creamy frosting (not whipped)

1 tsp coconut extract
1-1/2 to 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Stir together frosting and coconut extract until thoroughly mixed. Stir in flaked coconut. Spread over cooled cake.

Notes: Cut the cake very carefully or it will tend to tear apart due to the coconut strands catching on the knife. You can chop the coconut finer beforehand if you wish to avoid this problem. If you can't find a cake mix without pudding in the mix, that's fine. It will just be a little more dense and moist. You can also substitute any creamy homemade frosting, omit the vanilla, and add the coconut extract and flaked coconut.