Thoughts from Friends: Beth Rudin DeWoody

Victoria Kastner’s Coconut Cake

Victoria Kastner fell in love with the Virginia Robinson Gardens as soon as she saw it, many years ago. She has had the honor of lecturing there several times--on Hearst Castle; on the Castle's remarkable architect, Julia Morgan; and on Virginia Robinson's frequent guest and dear friend, Fred Astaire. This coconut cake is a vintage recipe from the 1930s--and would have been the perfect dessert for one of Virginia's famous dinner parties. Victoria's new book, Julia Morgan: An Intimate Portrait of the Trailblazing Architect, will be published by Chronicle Books in October 2021.

 Victoria Kastner’s Coconut Cake

Makes one two-layer 9” cake, serving 10-12

Cake:

• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. table salt (not kosher salt)
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sweetened cream of coconut (Coco Lopez brand, found in the liquor aisle—you’ll also use some of it in the frosting)
• 4 large eggs, separated—at room temperature
• ¼ tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two nine-inch cake pans, put parchment in the bottom, and butter the parchment. Dust with flour. (You can also use four 6-inch pans for this quantity of batter.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and cream of coconut until fluffy and lightened in color. Mix in the egg yolks one at a time. Stir in the vanilla extract. Mixing on low speed, add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk alternately in thirds. Mix just until combined. Scrape the batter into a large bowl and set it aside.

In a clean mixing bowl, blend the egg whites and cream of tartar at slow-medium speed, until large bubbles appear. Then turn the mixer to high and mix to stiff peaks. Do not overbeat.

Fold ¼ of the beaten egg whites into the batter to lighten it. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites, mixing just until combined.

Divide the batter between the baking pans. Give each pan a single sharp rap on the counter to break up any large bubbles, then set the pans side by side on an upper-level rack in the preheated oven. Switch the pans around midway through. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (This could take anywhere from 30—40 minutes, depending on your oven, for the 9-inch pans, and 17-22 minutes for the 6-inch pans.) Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes. Spray cooling racks with Pam, then invert the cakes onto the racks and peel off the parchment. Turn the cakes right side up and cool them completely. Just before frosting, cut each 9-inch layer in half with a serrated knife. (Do not cut the four 6-inch layers.)

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 8-oz. packages Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup Coco Lopez brand sweetened cream of coconut
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¾ cup – 1+ cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 14-oz. package Baker’s Angel Flake sweetened shredded coconut (for garnish)

Blend all the ingredients except the powdered sugar in a food processor until thoroughly combined. Then add the ¾ cup of sifted powdered sugar and blend thoroughly. Add more powdered sugar if necessary—it should taste barely sweet (since it will be covered with sweetened coconut). Chill until the frosting has firmed up.

To assemble:

Apply the frosting in a shallow layer rather than a thick one. If necessary, briefly chill the cake, the icing, or both before proceeding. Break up any clumps of Baker’s coconut into shreds, and apply it to the cake (this should take approximately 2/3 of the package). Chill the cake thoroughly. Allow it to come to room temperature before serving.

Serve atop a pool of Custard Sauce and Raspberry Sauce.

Custard Sauce

• 1 3/4 cups whole milk
• 3 egg yolks
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp. table salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter

In a thick-bottomed saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat, just until bubbles form around the edge of the pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt.

Pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Once it is incorporated, pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan. Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (4-8 minutes).

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and the butter. Pour into a bowl and press plastic wrap on top (to prevent a skin from forming). Chill thoroughly. Thin as necessary with additional milk to bring it to a pouring consistency.

Raspberry Sauce

• 3 12-oz. packages unsweetened frozen raspberries
• 2 tbsp. – 1/3 cup granulated sugar, to taste
• ½ cup water

In a food processor, puree the raspberries and water. Add the sugar to taste—it should taste tart, not overly sweet—and mix thoroughly. Add enough water to ensure it is pourable and place the mixture in a strainer set over a large bowl. Using a soup ladle, force it through the strainer and discard the seeds.

The 9-inch cake serves 12-16. The 6-inch cake serves 6-8.

Thank you to our
Guardians of the Gardens
who contributed to the
“Gifts for Gardens”