Emily Dickinson's Coconut Cake

Last October, when Poet's House put Emily Dickinson's recipe for coconut cake on display in New York, I made a mental note to give it a try.  This morning, when a Facebook friend posted the recipe on my timeline, I knew today was the day to give it a whirl.

The result was beautifully simple, yet very satisfying, much like Dickinson's poetry. Was I expecting anything less?  As it melted in my mouth, it was lovely to think of Emily enjoying the same delight. It would be extra scrumptious with fresh raspberries on the side. I have a feeling Miss D served it that way. 


Emily Dickinson's Coconut Cake

click to embiggen

1 cup coconut
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar


Here's my own instructions:


Cream sugar and butter, add eggs, mix well.  Add milk and coconut, mix.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Bake in a 9 inch round cake pan 350 for 30 minutes. 

here comes the sun...

What brings a bit of sunshine into a gray, not-yet-spring day? Lemons! This super-moist lemon cake is a rustic juxtaposition of earthy/grainy and the bright pop of pure lemon. I enjoyed a piece in the middle of the afternoon with a cup of tea. It's outta this world. The recipe originates with Brit food guru Nigella Lawson, but I first saw it mentioned over at Eryl's blog The Kitchen Bitch Ponders. This recipe is also, amazingly enough, gluten-free.

Lemon Polenta Cake

8 oz butter, softened

finely grated rind of 2 lemons

1 cup caster sugar (I used regular)

3 eggs, separated

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups ground almonds

1 cup fine polenta

Syrup: 1/4 cup each: lemon juice, sugar
(about 4 lemons total for this recipe)

Preheat oven to 325.

Lightly grease a round cake pan.

Beat the butter, rind and sugar, until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg yolks, beating well.

Stir in the juice, ground almonds and polenta.

Whip the egg whites, until soft peaks form. Carefully fold into the polenta mixture.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Meanwhile, boil the lemon juice and sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Spoon evenly over the hot cake.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

I made this easy little cake for our weekend brunch on the patio. It's
from the June issue of my favorite Gourmet magazine. (I don't think
I've ever made one of their recipes I didn't love.) This one is super
moist and reminds me a bit of an old fashioned fruit cobbler. I used
raspberries, as called for in the recipe, but I'm sure most any fresh
fruit would work well.


Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp sugar, divided
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup well shaken buttermilk
1 cup, about 6 oz. fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 400. Butter and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, soda and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with mixer at med high, until pale
and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with
buttermilk, beginning and ending with four. Mix only until
combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries
evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tbsp sugar.

Bake until golden and wooden toothpick comes out clean when
inserted in center, about 25 minutes.

Cool in pan 10 minutes, transfer to rack and cool an additional 10
minutes. Invert onto plate.

you'll hum when you eat it

I almost always make this wonderfully moist cake for Easter at the
manor. It's similar to carrot cake, only lighter and fluffier. It's a
perfect finish to a dinner of roast rosemary leg of lamb and asparagus.
Yummity-yum-yum-yum!! It is said that this cake takes it's name
from the fact that it tastes so good that you'll "hum" when you eat it!
(disregard random bookish background rubble)


Willow's Hummingbird Cake

[cake]
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1 3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 4)
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple with juice
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp vanilla extract

[frosting]
1 1/2 cups coconut
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese softened
2 sticks butter softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350. Butter and flour three round 9 inch cake pans.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and
salt. Add eggs and oil, stirring until moist; do not beat. Stir in
pineapple with juice, bananas, walnuts and vanilla.

Divide batter evenly among cake pans. Bake 20 minutes. Cool
10 minutes in pan, then invert on wire racks to cool.

Frost between all layers, as well as sides and top of cake.
Top with coconut. You can make this cake a day or two ahead, as it
ages well, and actually moistens with age.

Hope all of you are enjoying the day~!

PS... Abe Lincoln (yes, that's his real name, and yes, he is related
to the Abraham Lincoln) gave me an extra kind mention on his blog,
Brookville Daily Photo, yesterday. Stop by his place, actually, he has
three lovely blogs, and say hello.
.

Pear Cake

Do you remember that bumper crop of pears we had at the Manor

this year? I had a big bowl of over ripe ones that needed to be used.

So, what did I do? Pear Cake! And this recipe is absolutely the best!

It's got the perfect texture; light, fluffy, yet incredibly moist and

nutty, lightly spiced and permeated with the flavor of pears and

walnuts. It's very easy to make and perfect for this time of year.

You are going to love this. Give this recipe a whirl and tell me what

you think! Click on the picture for a macro view of the moistness!

Pear Cake

4 cups peeled and finely chopped ripe pears
3 cups flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (I used 2 cups slightly buzzed in processor)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs beaten
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, mix pears with sugar and nuts, set aside and let stand
one hour (actually my pears where mushy-ripe and I skipped this
part). Add dry ingredients to the pears, stir to combine. Add oil,
vanilla, and eggs. Stir to blend. Don't over stir. Pour batter into a
generously greased and floured tube pan or 10 x 9 inch pan. Bake
350 for about one hour, or until pick inserted in the center comes
out clean. (45 minutes for a 13 x 9 pan.)