The holidays are coming to a close. It seemed so quick this year. It felt like only yesterday I was in A.J Friedman’s scoffing at the display of Christmas cards when it was 80 deg outside.
Christmas this year was spent at my brother’s home in Queens. He and his wife hosted Christmas dinner for me, my other brother, my dad, her mom and her brother. It was the first time they hosted anything, and despite the lack of appropriate furniture (that’s why we have laps!), the dinner was fabulous and tasty, the company highly entertaining and the we all felt warm and fuzzy (so much so, windows were open!).
Of course, I had to bring something. So I made a cake. Not a pretty cake, but a yummy one for sure!
I was going for Almond Joy, but ended up with Mounds.
The cake was comprised of four layers. Alternating Coconut Cake and Devil’s Food Cake. Both cake recipes and the coconut frosting I used in between the layers came out of America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.
Lessons Learned / Notes:
In between each layer was a thin layer of the coconut frosting. I only made half the recipe because I wasn’t sure if i’d need it all, and with the full recipe calling for 3 cups of powdered sugar, I figured it might to way too sweet. I was right. The frosting is super sweet. So I only put in a thin layer between the layers and the topped it with some coconut whipped cream (heavy cream whipped with some sugar and coconut extract). I was hoping the whipped cream frosting on top would help temper the sweetness of the frosting. I would, but…
Four layers is too much. I think this cake would be much better as a two layer cake (one layer each). Make cupcakes with the rest of the batter!
The Devil’s Food Cake came out really good. I used a Double Dutch Processed Dark Cocoa. I was skeptical about pouring hot water into the chocolate to melt all the chocolate. It worked! I am now a believer! It is best eaten day of. The crumb seems to get dryer over time.
The coconut cake came out greasy looking, but smelled like coconut and tasted pretty good! I would have liked a lighter crumb, but for a layer cake, this was good. The greasiness actually goes away when it cools.
When the cake pans have the batter in them, remember to drop them onto the counter a couple of time to tap out any air bubbles and get the batter to settle in better.
When making the Devil’s Food Cake, you don’t have to use the fancy double dutch processed cocoa powder to dust the pans. Regular cocoa powder does the job.
Storing my layers overnight, I wrapped each layer in clear plastic wrap and stored them in the fridge. By letting them chill in the fridge overnight made handling the layers during frosting much easier. Once you’re done frosting, just let it all come to room temp before serving.
My cake came out lopsided because I did not bother leveling each layer.
I wanted my cake to be on this cute cake stand I had. But to frost it, I wanted to use my cake turntable. So, instead of trying to move it, I just put the cake stand on top of the turn table. It worked!
The peeps, which festive looking, should be eaten separately from the cake. The peeps were peppermint flavored, which didn’t quite match the rest of the cake.
Next time…definitely two layers and maybe some marbled cupcakes?
ChezSylvia 
The cake looks gorgeous, and what a clever idea. I’ve never thought to use two different cakes for a layer cake before, but coconut and chocolate seems to be the way to start! Glad you guys had a great Christmas 🙂