02-17-13-coconut cake

It turned cold, again. Time to mentally head to Hawai’i.

Hawai’i… I think I could handle paradise for a few years… I’ve been a visitor enough times and even when I’ve been there for weeks the time has always ended too quickly… But since that isn’t going to be happening this evening, some Hawai’ian flavors will havbe to suffice.

I started off with my basic Genoise. Well… Julia Child’s Perfect Genoise. It’s a simple recipe that always comes out… perfect. In the cake, I substituted a bit of the vanilla with a coconut emulsion and added it to the whipped cream icing, as well.

The recipe makes one 8″ layer, which is perfect for splitting and filling. You can easily get three layers from one cake. Tonight, though, I just made two.

After splitting the cake, I whipped cream with a bit of sugar and flavored with vanilla and coconut. I spread it on the bottom layer and added shredded coconut. I then added the top layer, frosted the rest of the cake with the whipped cream and added chopped macadamia nuts to the side.

It did just what it was supposed to do – satisfy my sweet tooth and transport me to a comfy seat under a palm tree…