Coconut-Lime Layer Cake

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we had some family members over for a wonderful dinner of baked brie with spiced apples and toasted walnuts, home-cured corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, salad, Irish Soda Bread, and the first organic strawberries of the season (I can NEVER resist, let alone wait three more months for the local ones!). Because we have two birthdays within a week of each other, I needed to make a layer cake, preferably something festive to go with the theme of the day. My first thought was chocolate with an Irish Cream filling, but one of the birthday people isn't a fan of chocolate cake! I ended up making a coconut lime cake, with just a hint of coconut flavor in the cake itself, a lime curd filling, and a meringue buttercream icing. Normally I try to not use artificial food coloring, but the natural green is more of an unappetizing chartreuse and the color of the filling was a bright yellow. It needed to be more festive for the special day! The cake, filling, and icing recipes are my own creations; enjoy!

Basic Yellow Cake

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 or 9" round pans, line with parchment, and lightly grease the parchment.

Cream 1 1/2 cups sugar with 1/2 cup softened butter. Add 2 eggs, one at a time; beat well to combine. Add two egg yolks; beat well. Add 1 tsp vanilla (or coconut).

Beat in 3 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt. Add 2 1/2 cups cake flour and 1 1/4 cups whole (or 2%) milk. Beat on low speed 30 seconds to combine, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Turn speed to high and beat three minutes.

Pour batter into pans. Bake 30-35 min. Cool completely IN the pans.

Citrus Curd Cake Filling

In a small saucepan, stir together 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp corn starch.

Stir in 3 beaten egg yolks, 2/3 cup water, 2 tsp shredded lime or lemon peel, and 1/2 cup lime or lemon juice. Whisk over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Transfer to a glass bowl, cover, and chill for at least 2 hours.

Makes enough to fill a four layer cake. (About 1 1/2 cups.)

Meringue Buttercream Icing

4 egg whites, at room temp

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

1/3 cup water

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup butter, at room temp, cut into small pieces

Beat egg whites with an electric mixer (preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment) until soft peaks form. Beat in 1/4 cup sugar, scraping sides as necessary, until glossy and stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Combine remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar and water in a small saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove cover and attach a candy thermometer (you may need to tilt the pan for the last few minutes to get an accurate reading; it will still boil fine). Cook without stirring until 240 degrees.

Very carefully, with beater(s) on low, pour syrup into the egg whites, being careful to pour it directly into the whites and not down the side of the bowl. Turn speed to high and beat until stiff and glossy.

Add 2 tsp vanilla. With mixer running, add butter one piece at a time. The meringue will appear to break, but have a little faith! Beat at high speed about 10 minutes, until thick and spreadable.

Makes enough to frost one layer cake. (Make extra if you want to do a lot of decorating or use it for filling as well.)