We have a house guest tomorrow night (and it's my UP day on JUDDD) so I tried my hand at a coconut cake today. It came out quite good and not too sweet, which I really like. I didn't make too sweet a frosting, but you could substitute a sweeter, cream cheese frosting and end up with a richer, sweeter cake if you prefer. For some reason, since starting JUDDD, I don't like my sweets nearly as sweet as I once did. Not sure exactly why, but everything with Splenda in it is syrupy sweet to me now.
I’ve not tried a straight coconut cake in the three years I’ve been low-carbing and thought I’d give it a stab today as it has always been a favorite of mine. I saw a lovely pic of a coconut cake on the net today and thought what a great way to use some coconut oil! With all the eggs that coconut flour requires, this is a costly cake to make. It was not as white and light as traditional coconut cakes, either. But with all the eggs, coconut oil and butter, this cake certainly doesn’t want for moisture. I iced my two layer cake with whipped cream to which I added some French Vanilla sugar-free pudding powder and a pinch of coconut flavoring, but you could certainly use whatever cream cheese or coconut frosting you prefer. This recipe isn’t suitable until the nuts rung of the OWL phase of Atkins.
INGREDIENTS:
½ c. butter, unsalted, softened
1/3 c. coconut oil, softened (or melted)
12 medium-large eggs
3/4 c. sugar-free syrup (I used vanilla)
¼ c. erythritol
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
1/3 c. Carbquick bake mix
3/4 c. coconut flour
2 T. oat fiber
1 tsp. glucomannan powder (optional enhancer)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
For frosting: 1 c. whipping cream, 2 tsp. Coconutti extract (or 1 tsp. regular coconut extract), 6 drops liquid sucralose (I used small bottle EzSweets), 1/4 envelope sugar-free vanilla pudding powder.
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º. Line the bottom of two 9″ cake pans with either parchment or waxed paper. Grease the sides of the pan with coconut oil and set them aside while you mix up the batter. In a large bowl, soften the butter and coconut oil and beat well until smooth. Add erythritol and syrup. Stir well. Beat in the eggs and extracts. Measure and add in all dry ingredients. Pour batter as evenly as possible into the two prepared pans. Bake in preheated 350º oven for 30-35 minutes. Toothpick check the center to make certain it comes out dry. Remove and cool completely before attempting to frost. While cakes are cooling, whip the cream until thick. Stir in 2 tsp. Coconutti extract (or 1 tsp. other coconut extract), the liquid sucralose and the pudding powder. Stir well. When cakes have totally cooled, place one on a serving plate. Spoon a layer of frosting on the bottom layer. Place second layer on top and ice the top and sides with remaining frosting. Sprinkle a tiny bit of coconut on top if desired. Keep this cake refrigerated when not cutting/serving.
NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 10 servings, each contains:
373 calories
32.46 g fat
14.82 g carbs, 8.8 g fiber, 6.02 g NET CARBS
11.0 g protein
24.8 mg sodium
15 mg potassium
25% RDA Vitamin A, 32% B12, 12% calcium, 14% copper, 36% iron, 14% manganese, 36% phosphorous, 27% riboflavin, 34% selenium, 11% zinc.
__________________