coconut | The Southern Lady Cooks

EASY EASTER BUNNY CAKE

Posted on March 27, 2013 by The Southern Lady

This Easter Bunny cake is so easy to make and a great project to do with children. You can decorate it any way you like. It makes a great cake for the Easter holidays and tastes good, too! One box of cake mix makes two rabbits, so make one for a friend! This little rabbit cake has been around for years. My sister used to make these at least 40 years ago for Easter.

What you will need:
1 cake mix of your choice. I use just a white cake mix. (One mix makes two rabbits or one rabbit with one layer left over)
1 bag of coconut
1 can of whipped white frosting
Toothpicks
Jelly Beans
Peeps
Chocolate eggs.
Green Food Coloring
Cardboard to make the ears
Crayons (I used grey and pink on the ears)

Cook the cake mix in two round pans according to directions. Remove from pans and let cool.

Cut one layer in half and put the two pieces together on your dish you plan to use for this cake. Try to cut even so the two pieces will be the same size. Then, remove a pie shaped piece from the two half rounds. See picture.
Use half the piece you cut out of the cake to make the tail and fasten to the cake with a toothpick.
Set the cake up and the smaller part is the bunny head, the larger part the body. Frost the cake with whipped vanilla frosting. Sprinkle coconut all over the frosting.

Use two black jelly beans for eyes and a pink jelly bean for the nose. (Note: You could use toothpicks for whiskers or broom straws). I left them off.
Put some coconut in a bowl and color with green food coloring and sprinkle around the cake.
Draw ears on a white piece of cardboard or paper and color with crayons, outlining with the gray and fill in with the pink. Stick on bunny head.
Decorate with peeps, chocolate eggs, and jelly beans.

Enjoy! Happy Easter.

Note: It would be easy to make these from scratch, too. Just make your favorite cake. This post is just a guideline.

Filed under: Cakes, Desserts, Easy Easter Bunny Cake | Tagged: baking, brunch, cakes, coconut, cooking, dessert, Easter, Easter Bunny Cake, easy recipes, Entertaining, food, Holidays, jelly beans, rabbit, recipes, southern lady | 16 Comments »

COCONUT CAKE WITH COCONUT FROSTING

Posted on February 27, 2013 by The Southern Lady

This cake has coconut in the cake and is frosted with coconut in the frosting. There are nine egg whites in the cake and the frosting, so if you don’t want to use up that many eggs in one cake, you could use a white cake mix and then make your own frosting. I think anything homemade is better than bought so I use the eggs. We love this cake.

CAKE:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter or margarine or 1 stick or 8 tablespoons, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

5 egg whites

1 cup milk (I use 2%)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon coconut extract

2/3 cup sweetened coconut

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. (I sift mine twice with a flour sifter. You could use a wire whisk but be sure to get out lumps in flour). Set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and add to the butter and sugar. Add flour mixture and milk continue mixing just until all ingredients are wet. Fold in vanilla and coconut extracts along with sweetened coconut with a spoon. Scrape sides of bowl. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans and divide batter between the two. (You could make this in a 9 x 13 pan, also) This will be a thick batter. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 25 to 30 minutes checking centers for doneness. (It is important not to overcook this cake or it will be tough. Ovens vary so check at about 25 minutes to see if center is done.) Let cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pans.

FROSTING

4 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Dash of salt

1/4 teaspoon coconut extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup hot water

1 1/2 to 2 cups sweetened coconut flakes

Bring sugar and water to a boil on top of the stove. DO NOT STIR. Cook until reaches 238 degrees on candy thermometer. While sugar is cooking combine egg whites, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, dash salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon coconut extract and mix with mixer until stiff peaks form. When sugar mixture reaches 238 degrees remove and start pouring into egg whites while mixing at high speed. This just takes about a minute till at spreading consistency. Spread frosting on first layer of cake, sprinkle with sweetened coconut, add top layer and frost. Frosting should be thick between layers on top and sides. Add sweetened coconut to the top and sides. (I set the cake on a large round tray when frosting the sides to catch the extra coconut. Just kind of get some in your hand and gently throw it at the sides, don’t mash it in. Some will fall on the tray. Repeat until the entire cake is covered with coconut.)

Enjoy!

TIP: Now that you have made this cake, you have 9 egg yokes leftover. Here are some tips on freezing or keeping the yokes:

Place one egg yolk in each ice cube cavity of a clean ice cube tray. Add a pinch of salt to each yolk (if you plan to eventually use them in savoury recipes) or a pinch of sugar (if you will use them in sweet recipes). Freeze overnight until solid, then transfer to an airtight freezer bag.To use, thaw in refrigerator and then mix well. They will keep in the freezer for up to three months.Leftover egg yolks can also be refrigerated for 3-4 days.

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Filed under: Coconut Cake with Coconut Frosting | Tagged: baking, brunch, cake, coconut, coconut cake, coconut frosting, cooking, dessert, egg whites, Entertaining, food, Holidays, homemade, recipes, southern lady | 7 Comments »

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

Posted on January 9, 2013 by The Southern Lady

German Chocolate cake is one of my favorite cakes. The frosting makes the cake. This is a great cake to serve to guests and family will love it, too. The original recipe came from an early seventies Progressive Farmer Southern Country Cookbook. I have made a few changes over the years. I used to make this cake when my children were young and we lived on the farm. It has always been a favorite.

4 ounces or 1/4 pound package German’s sweet chocolate (You can get this at most groceries in the baking section. It is a 4 ounce bar like a candy bar).

1/2 cup water

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

4 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt chocolate and water on top of the stove in a pot and cool. Cream butter, sugar and eggs; beat well. Add cooled chocolate and water, flour, salt, soda, buttermilk and vanilla extract mixing well with mixer. Spray three 9 inch cake pans. Divide the batter between the 3 pans (comes out to about 2 cups per cake pan). Bake layers in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool about 10 minutes and remove from pans. Frost with Pecan Frosting.

Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 cup sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup butter or margarine or 8 tablespoons

3 eggs

1 1/2 to 2 cups coconut

1 cup pecans, chopped (can use walnuts, too)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat eggs and add to milk, sugar and butter. Cook on medium heat about 12 minutes until bubbles and begins to thicken. Stir constantly because it will burn easily. Remove and add nuts, coconut and vanilla extract. Mix well and let cool. Spread on tops of cake layers. Note: You can double this frosting if you like a lot.

Enjoy!

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Filed under: German Chocolate Cake | Tagged: baking, cake, coconut, coconut pecan frosting, cup pecans, dessert, Entertaining, food, German Chocolate, german chocolate cake, nuts, pecan frosting, pecans, recipes, southern lady, walnuts | 22 Comments »

ROCKY ROAD BARS

Posted on November 30, 2012 by The Southern Lady

This is another easy candy recipe. You can double it and it is made in the microwave. I made this recently and should have doubled the recipe because it did not last long at my house.

1 (6 ounce) package chocolate chips

2 tablespoons evaporated milk (You could use half and half or even regular milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 1/2 cups walnut pieces or nuts of your choice

1 cup coconut

Combine chocolate chips and milk in a microwave bowl and heat until melted, about 2 minutes, stirring once. Stir in vanilla, marshmallows, nuts and coconut. Press into an 8 x 8 sprayed baking dish. Chill and cut into squares. Makes about 24 squares depending on size you cut them. Enjoy!

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