Incredible Coconut Cake

Cake Ingredients:

5 eggs, separated

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2-1/4 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups flaked coconut, chopped

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Frosting Ingredients:

2 packages (one 8 ounces, one 3 ounces) cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup butter, softened

4-1/3 cups confectioners' sugar

1-1/4 teaspoons coconut extract

2 cups flaked coconut, toasted

Directions

Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325°. In another large bowl, beat sugar, butter and oil until well blended. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts.

                 

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Stir in coconut.

               

Add cream of tartar to egg whites; with clean beaters, beat on medium until stiff peaks form. Fold a fourth of the egg whites into batter, then fold in remaining whites.

               

Transfer to three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

               

For frosting, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add confectioners’ sugar and extract; beat until smooth.

               

Place one cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting and sprinkle with 1/3 cup coconut. Repeat. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake; sprinkle with remaining coconut. Refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 16 servings.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)

(I cook them all day on low in a crock pot with 10.75 ounces cream of chicken soup, but you could just boil the chicken if you wanted to.)

1 pound fresh green beans, already snapped & cooked

1 sweet onion, chopped

8 stalks of celery, sliced

½ pound baby carrots, sliced

4 medium gold potatoes, cubed

32oz. chicken stock

2 cups of water

2 T. butter

2 T. all purpose flour

pepper to taste

10.75 ounces Cream of Chicken soup (They sell this in organic at Whole Foods, or you could make your own from scratch…)

Cook chicken and green beans; set aside. In a stock pot, sautee onion, celery, and carrots with 2T. of butter and 2 cups of water. When the water begins to cook out, add chicken stock, pepper, and raw potato cubes and boil for approximately 10 minutes until potatoes are tender. Slowly add 2T. of flour, lightly sprinkling throughout the pot and stirring constantly (to thicken the soup a little.) Next, add Cream of Chicken soup and stir until combined. Stir in green beans and chicken, and allow soup to bubble for a couple of minutes until incorporated. If it’s too thick, thin with a little additional chicken stock…but add slowly and stir constantly; the soup should have a thick consistency. Serve with thin biscuits on top as a garnish.

Thin Biscuits

1 cup self-rising flour

5 T. cold butter

Half & Half - about 1/3 cup

Milk – a couple of teaspoons

Additional butter for glazing

Using a pastry cutter, cut butter into flour. Add half & half a little at a time until dough leaves sides of bowl. Cover dough with a little flour and place on waxed paper. Roll out about 1/3 inch thick on floured waxed paper. Cut with cookie cutters, and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush ready-to-bake biscuits lightly with milk. Bake at 350 until just slightly brown…usually about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven. Brush lightly with additional butter, and place decoratively on top of soup bowls.

(To make this recipe “Organic,” buy all organic ingredients.)