Coconut Bundt Cake

I’m still on maternity leave and I’ve asked a few of my amazing blogger friends to fill in with some guest posts. Nancy, from gotta get baked, is here again today to help me out…isn’t she amazing? You met her last week when she shared these ooey-gooey Chocolate Bar Cookie Bars and today she is here again after my heart with this lovely coconut bundt cake. THANK YOU, Nancy…xoxo (PS: I had no idea you didn’t take part because of the pictures…I knew you were on a break! ) Pictures were updated in February 2021. 

Nancy here, from gotta get baked (I know, I know, I’m here AGAIN! What was Zainab thinking about allowing me to guest post twice this month?)

I totally feel off my baking game lately. It’s as if I’ve lost my mojo. It all started a few months ago when I was attempting a layer cake for my best friend’s baby shower. It was a recipe I had made in the past with great success: a coconut layer cake with white chocolate buttercream icing. I baked the cake layers and the next day, after I had whipped up three cups of icing, I looked at the layers and knew immediately something was wrong. They looked awful – flat instead of tall and fluffy. I ripped off a piece, put it in my mouth, and realized the cake was completely gummy and dense.

Ugh.

Into the compost, it went. The icing went into the freezer (after I devoured a cup of it to drown my sorrows).

A lovely group of bloggers got together a few months ago to throw Zainab a virtual baby shower with the theme being one of her favorite flavors: coconut. I was so excited to join in but couldn’t decide for a long time what to make. I decided on bread pudding because, c’mon, bread pudding is delicious! I baked up a huge pan of coconut bread pudding with a streusel topping, was delighted with the taste, took about three hundred photos of it, and realized as I was browsing through them that they all looked like crap. I just couldn’t bear using such hideous photos so I didn’t participate in the shower. I no longer have the right to call myself a food blogger.

I mean, what the hell is that?!

Just recently, I was baking for my guest posts for Zainab. I wanted to use coconut because she loves it and to redeem myself for that failed baby shower post. I wanted to bake a coconut bundt cake but thought it would be fabulous to add a streusel topping. Since I couldn’t use a traditional bundt pan with a streusel topping (because a streusel topping on the bottom of a cake is sheer madness), I baked my cake in a tube pan, which requires you to invert the cake when you remove it and then put it back right-side-up.

I took the cake from the oven but only let it cool for about half an hour before I attempted removing it from the pan. BIG MISTAKE, people! The cake was still so hot and fragile that it completely fell apart as I inverted it onto a cooling rack.

My heart shattered as surely as the cake did.

It tasted awesome but there’s no way I was going to present Zainab with a cracked up cake (even though I know she would have appreciated the humor of the situation!). What is going on with me?! Well, I’ve been soldiering on with baking (it’s like riding a bike, right?) and thankfully, this lovely coconut bundt cake turned out beautifully, in taste and in looks! The bundt is super moist and fluffy, with a strong coconut flavor.

I’ve learned a few important lessons here, you guys. Never turn a hot ass cake out of its pan. And have a sense of humor. Roll with it! Life isn’t perfect. Looks aren’t everything. Have a little patience and definitely a lot of perseverance.

And eat cake. Because no matter what it looks like, it’s what’s inside that counts!

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Yield: 1 large bundt cake

Coconut Bundt Cake

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing bundt pan
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons dark rum (optional)
• 1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter your bundt pan (12-inch) and set aside. I like using baking spray to grease my bundt pans.
2. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Don't skip the sifting, please.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla extract and dark rum, mix to combine.
5. Add in the coconut milk and mix to combine. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth. Fold in the shredded coconut until combined.
6. Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
7. Cool the cake for at least 20 minutes in the pan before turning the cake onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
8. Serve with powdered sugar dusting.
9. The bundt will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for three days or in the freezer for three months. It’s also fabulous toasted.

Notes

Adapted from Food Network

Recommended Products

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