30 March 2010

TWD: Coconut (Lime) Tea Cake


Whoops!  I almost forgot to post about this week's TWD recipe, chosen by Carmen.  You see, I was so excited about this cake that I baked it super early--last Tuesday instead of this past Saturday as I usually do.  I too like "plain" "dry" cakes, so I was amped and even did the full recipe instead of halving it.  Hope level was HIGH.  Code Red Expectations over here. 

I love coconut, and I love lime, so I decided to use that variation on the recipe.




 lime sugar smells SO GOOD!



This cake was a little unconventional in its preparation.  You start off beating sugar and eggs and then adding flour and leavening, but here you add hot (coconut) milk, too, after you add the flour.  This seemed dodgy as you generally try to handle batter as little as possible once the flour is in.   There is also very little butter and it is melted in the coconut milk.  I used "lite" milk, so I suppose my cake was kind of lowfat?  It was late, so I didn't bother toasting the coconut, though now I kinda wish I had to cut some of the sweetness.

The batter was really thin.  Surprisingly so.  I wasn't sure what would happen and I was afraid the lime zest would all migrate to the bottom of the pan.  It was bubbly, too.


My fear was unfounded.  The cake came out beautifully.




Taste:  was ok but disappointing.  It looked fantastic, was very, very moist and very coconutty and very limey--but somehow it wasn't nearly as compelling as I expected.  I tasted a LOT of sugar.  I couldn't taste the rum at all.  I made it, had a slice, thought, "not too shabby," and promptly forgot about it for a week.  That's not a good sign.  If I were to make again I'd definitely do a lime glaze for it, at the least.  But I don't think I'll be making it again.

24 comments:

natalia said...

Ciao ! your cake is gorgeous !! I used les sugar and loved it !

Paula said...

Yours came out of the pan perfectly! and looks great. But you are right. Forgetting about it is not a good sign.

Nickki said...

Your cake looks gorgeous! Sorry you were disappointed, especially after you were so looking forward to making it. I'm the opposite - I can't stop thinking about this cake but I kind of wish I could! I think I'm going to have to force myself to give some away so I don't eat it all :-)

Mary said...

I love the shape of your cake and I can't believe you forgot about it! I cut a piece every time I got near it, and it did improve with age. I used unsweetened coconut to cut the sweetness a bit.

Anonymous said...

Mine didn't have much of a rum flavor either, so I made a buttery rum glaze. That gave it a kick!

Rachel said...

I couldn't taste the rum either, but I love the cake! Yours looks pretty!

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Sorry to hear the flavor was disappointing - the cake is gorgeous! :) I'm making this next week and can't wait to try it.

Cindy said...

Sorry the taste left you wanting. The cake looks beautiful--does that count? I used orange and ginger and full fat milk. It was yummy!

Leslie said...

Wow, look at all that zest! I should have upped the zest, too. Sorry this one was a bit of a letdown!

Anonymous said...

looks beautiful. I, too, felt a bit "meh" about it. But lovely nonetheless.

Amber Marie said...

I'm glad you combined the lime and coconut - it's usually such a great combo! I used the spice option.

Cathy said...

Well darn - sorry it wasn't a bigger hit for you! I'm constantly surprised by which recipes are huge hits and which aren't with TWD. Your cake looks wonderful, though!

Susan said...

Sorry your cake didn't taste as great as it looks! I skipped this week, but will try this one another time.

Kathleen said...

Your cake looks great-sorry it wasn't a bigger hit for you. I just made a time consuming Tyler Florence recipe and it was so mediocre I wont even put it on my blog. I feel ya!

Anonymous said...

It can be really hard to predict if you'll love a recipe, but at least you gave it a shot. There's always next week! Your cake looks like it turned out great!

Anonymous said...

Your coconut tea cake turned out beautifully! Your photo with the lime rubbed sugar is great - I feel like I could smell it now! =) I love citrus rubbed into the sugar - I forgot to do that... I must have a sweet tooth because I didn't think it was too sweet at all and I used sweetened coconut!

Anonymous said...

A lime glaze definitely does help with the limey flavor and I added a splash more rum to mine and could taste it, but could have even added more! your cake looks great and very moist!

Ashley aka Eclectic Connoisseur said...

I added lime to mine also. Lovely photos!

Becky @ Project Domestication said...

i would love to do the lime glaze. i'm making this next week for Easter.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for baking with me this week even though you didn't love it! Your cake looks beautiful though. :) Mine didn't taste sweet at all - isn't it funny how we all get different results even with the same recipe?

Lillian said...

I'm sorry you didn't love the cake, but it sure looks great!

Marthe said...

Lime and coconut sounds like the perfect combination, too bad you didn't like it!!

Lynne Daley said...

It was a tad sweet-I didn't use unsweetened coconut in the cake and probably should have. Your cake is lovely-the lime glaze would be nice if you decided to make it again. Thanks for commenting on my blog, Cafe Lynnylu.

Liz said...

Oh, sad story! Sorry you didn't love it. I will say that I added syrup and a glaze to mine and I think that really helped.

 

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