Coconut Cake

Ingredients:

Batter:

1 cup- All-purpose flour

½ cup- Cornstarch

1 tsp. Baking powder

4- Eggs, separated

3 tbsp. Warm water

½ cup plus 1 tbsp. Granulated sugar

1½ tsp. Grated lemon zest

Syrup:

3 tbsp. Coconut milk

¼ cup- Granulated sugar

Filling and Topping:

3- Eggs, separated

1 cup plus 1 tbsp. Coconut milk, divided

¼ cup- Cornstarch

1 cup- Granulated sugar, divided

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

2 1/3 cup- Shredded Sweetened Coconut, divided

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 9 inch round spring form pan, Grease only the inside bottom of the pan with shortening.
Batter:

1. In a small mixing bowl, add flour, cornstarch, and baking powder, whisk together to mix. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg yolks, water, sugar and lemon zest; beat until mixture is pale and creamy, about 5 to 10 minutes.

3. In a medium mixing bowl beat egg whites until stiff, fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, and then fold in the flour mixture.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake 30 to 35 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pan and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Syrup:

In a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine coconut milk and sugar; stir constantly until boiling and sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Filling and Topping:

1. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, 4 tbsp. coconut milk, and cornstarch together with a wire whisk 1 to 2 minutes until a light color. Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine remaining coconut milk and 6 tbsp. sugar; heat and stir constantly until almost boiling. Remove from heat.

3. Temper the eggs; very slowly, in a thin stream, pour about 1/3 of the hot milk mixture into the beaten eggs while quickly whisking the two together.

Tip: The technique used to blend uncooked eggs with a hot liquid is called tempering. Tempering slowly warms the eggs so they are closer to the temperature of the liquid they will be added to, preventing the eggs from scrambling. If you simply poured the eggs into the hot milk they would immediately start cooking and you would have chunks of cooked egg in the mixture.

4. Return the egg mixture back to the rest of the hot milk, return to medium heat and heat until it gently boils, stirring constantly so the mixture does not burn. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Set aside to partially cool.

5. In a medium bowl beat egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold remaining sugar into the egg whites. Fold egg whites into the partially cooled egg mixture, and then fold in 1 1/3 cups coconut. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
6. Using a long kitchen knife, split cooled cake horizontally into 3 layers. Spread about ¼ of the filling over the bottom layer. Place the second layer on top, sprinkle with half of the syrup; let soak in and then spread with ¼ of the filling.

7. Place the 3^rd layer on top, sprinkle with the remaining syrup and let soak in. Spread top and sides of cake with remaining filling.

8. Sprinkle the top and sides of the cake with 1 cup coconut. Cover and Refrigerate until ready to serve. Refrigerate Leftovers.