Mrs Cobb’s Coconut Cake

Mrs Cobb’s Coconut Cake

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Servings: 10-12

    • About This Recipe

    “This is another one from The Cat Who Cookbook from the mystery series by the same name. I have drooled over descriptions of this cake for years.”

    Ingredients

    Cake

  • 1 1/2 cupssugar
  • 1/2 cupshortening
  • 2cupsall-purpose flour
  • 3teaspoonsbaking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoonsalt
  • 1cupmilk
  • 5egg whites
  • 1teaspoonalmond extract
  • 1cupflaked coconut

    • Filling

  • 1 (15ounce) cans apricots
  • 2tablespoonscornstarch
  • 2tablespoonssugar

    • Frosting

  • 6tablespoons butter or 6tablespoonsmargarine, room temperature
  • 6ouncescream cheese, room temperature
  • 3cupspowdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoonvanilla extract
  • milk, as needed
  • coconut(optional)

    • Directions

  • Cake: Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Using an electric mixer, cream the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy.
  • Sift or mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • While beating, add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk.
  • Then beat for 2- 2 1/2 minutes at medium speed.
  • Add the egg whites and almond extract.
  • Beat another 1 1/2 minutes.
  • Add the coconut and stir well.
  • Put into 2 greased and floured 9″ cake pans.
  • Bake about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Cool 10 minutes before removing layers from pans.
  • Spread apricot filling on completely cooled bottom layer.
  • Place second layer over filling.
  • Cover top and sides of both layers with frosting.
  • Filling: Drain apricots, reserving 2 Tbsp of juice.
  • Remove any pit fragments or pieces of stems from the apricots.
  • Puree in blender until smooth.
  • Place in saucepan.
  • Add reserved juice to cornstarch and mix well.
  • Stir into apricots.
  • Add the sugar.
  • Cook stirring over medium heat until thickened.
  • Frosting: Cream the butter or margarine and cream cheese together.
  • Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
  • If frosting is too stiff to spread, add milk a half teaspoon at a time.
  • After cake is frosted, lightly press more coconut onto the top and sides, if desired.

    • Reviews

  • “MG, if you still have not made this cake yet, you are missing out on a fabulous treat!I made this cake for my father’s birthday yesterday and it could easily be the best tasting cake I have ever prepared!!I substituted butter for the shortening and eliminated the filling altogether, using frosting between the layers. To do this, I did not have to make extra frosting, there was plenty. Onebite and I knew I this recipe would quickly become one of my favorites to make over and over again!The cake is light and delicious, the frosting is scrumptious! Thanks, MG, for making my father’s birthday a success!”

  • “I made this cake yesterday afternoon and filled it with a raspberry filling – it turned out great – very moist – next time I may try filling it with pineapple”

  • “I have made this cake for several special occassions now and my husband claims it as his favorite cake!!He loves the coconut in the cake batter rather than as an accessory on top of it!The almond extract accentuates the coconut flavor very nicely.The apricot filling is delicious.I usually lighten up the icing with a butter frosting or a whipped cream frosting and add toasted coconut to the top and sides.The thing everyone enjoys about this cake is that it tastes like a good dense homemade cake and it tastes like you had a piece of cake!!!!”

  • “This cake is marvelous – what a wonderful texture and heft!This is not your average wimpy coconut cake…I followed the directions for the cake exactly, even setting the timer so I mixed the batter correctly.I did not use an apricot filling, but used a lemon filling that I also got from Recipezaar.I made my own whipped icing and toasted the coconut to sprinkle on the top and sides.I will make this cake again and again!”

  • “A friend of mine asked for a coconut cake for her birthday, and as she happens to be a fan of the “Cat Who…” series, I figured this was a no-brainer! Bear in mind that I’m not a fan of coconut cakes myself, and yet I thought this was really good. Two main reasons: the hint of almond in the cake is delicious, and the tangy apricot filling is a great counterpoint to the sweetness of the cream cheese icing. For my own sake, I toasted the coconut that went into the batter (I generally like toasted coconut much better), and I thought it lent a nice flavor to the cakes themselves. I left the coconut on top plain, though… couldn’t bear to mess with the classic snow-white “coconut cake” image. My friends kept saying “mmm” as they were eating it, so I’d say that was a thumbs-up!”

  • “I wasn’t thrilled with this at all. The icing was too “tart” and the cake was kind of bland. And for the amount of time it took to make this it just wasn’t worth it. Maybe if I had used real coconut… My own coconut cake recipe is so much better but just more time consuming.”

  • “Great recipe, Mysterygirl. A coconut cake was requested by a work colleague.I baked the cakes, took me 25 mins instead of 30.Also, I left the cakes out overnight, they were perfect i.e. moist and tender the next day.The filling was easy to make, and tasteful.I used a different cream cheese frosting 8 oz cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter and 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted. Everyone loved it at work, it was gone in 15 mins.Next time, I may change the filling flavoring, such as raspberry or pineapple. Thank you.”

  • “I want to rave about the filling!Everyone loved it, definitely five stars!!I added about 1/4 tsp. of fresh nutmeg for flavor and an extra tbs. of “juice” to get a consistency I liked.The cake would be fine for cupcakes but for a layer cake though, mine wasn’t as light or tender and didn’t rise as high as other reviewers indicated.Next time I might use cake flour or possibly a white cake mix adding coconut and almond extract.The frosting sounds yummy but I made a variation of a 7 Minute Frosting sprinkled with toasted coconut to limit the calories from fat.Thanks for posting! I would never have thought of combining a coconut cake with an apricot filling; an excellent combination of flavors!”

  • “Wow!! Beautiful cake, texture and flavour. Looks really pretty when done. I added 1 1/4 cup sweetened coconut to the batter and 1/2 cup sweetened coconut on top of the cake when iced. The long coconut flakes look and taste better(personal preference). I also baked in a springform pan un-covered for 25 mins and covered for the rest of the time.It took about 40-45 mins in my oven. I adjusted the icing and used 2 cups of icing sugar. I used raspberry jam as the filling. Pick a really good quality jam you love, the quality impacts the cake a great deal.Next time I will use un-sweetened, seedless raspberry jam from Safeway(my favourite). Guests said the cake tasted light. Next time I might bake the jam as a layer in the cake. This would also make a fun cupcake, add half the batter, some jam, rest of batter and bake/ice the same way as the cake. For Xmas I plan to try this!! Maybe add some food colouring to the coconut for a festive touch. Bake in red and green paper cups.”

  • “This was dessert for our Easter dinner.It was wonderful!I loved the apricot filling.That made this more than just a coconut cake.”

  • “Divine! I made this for a friend’s birthday and she absolutely loved it! The cake was moist & light and the frosting was delicious as well. I used a high quality Apricot jam as the filling instead and it was wonderful. Thank you so much for this recipe. “

  • “This cake was amazing –moist but not too heavy, and great flavor. This is one that probably should be stored in the fridge if you use cream cheese frosting. The only variance from the recipe was to use about 1 cup more powdered sugar than the frosting recipe called for — it was too thin without it.I meant to take a picture, but it disappeared too quickly. :-)”

  • “I madethis for my Sis’s birthday. It was a HUGE HIT!! I followed the recipe exactly. It was easy and precise. We all loved the apricot filling with the coconut taste. I toasted some coconut for the top of the cake. MG, thanks for this great recipe!!”

  • “4”

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