New York Times Cooking probably registered me as a stalker so their Instagram admin team does not let me look at any of their recipes. 😓Therefore I asked my friends to visit its website and send me those delicious looking recipes instead.
NYT Cooking did rave about this ‘coconut and pecan cake’ or ‘Italian Cream Cake’ so much so that I was truly convinced that it must be amazing . I baked it on the first day of Chinese New Year, Feb 12th . A little more work than the usual cake. We had to bake the cake itself , make the coconut custard cream for the middle filling and whipped the cream for icing .
There is no sweetened shredded coconut available in Hong Kong ( I looked everywhere ) so I substituted that with the unsweetened ones . I also did not have the confidence to cut in between the 9” diameter cakes so my cake became 2 layers in stead of 4. It was absolutely fine .
We followed the guidelines from NYT Cooking and use 9” cake moulds . We did not reduce or change any other ingredients apart from
using unsweetened coconut 🥥 shreds. For the icing we used whipping cream instead of heavy cream and substituted coconut essence with a hazel nut one .
It is a big cake to share so 1/3 of the cake went to our neighbor with 3 growing boys . Another ( almost ) 1/3 went to Jessica . Our friends, Helen & Jamie had a little piece and so did my husband and my helper, Emy . I,myself had 2 (not so little) pieces .
If you love pecan and coconut. You will definitely fall in love with this cake !
Thank you so much NYT Cooking and Jessica who managed to get this delicious recipe for me . I will rate it 11/10 🥳🍰
FOR THE CAKE
85 g unsweetened shredded coconut
74 g pecan halved toasted
400 g castor sugar
287 g all purpose flour + more for the moulds
1 TBS baking powder
3/4 TS salt
170 g unsalted butter , softened, + more for the moulds
60 ml coconut cream
4 large eggs
1/4 TS Hazel nut extract
270 ml unsweetened coconut milk
FOR THE CUSTARD FILLING
2 large egg yolks / lightly beaten
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
57 g unsalted butter
1 TBS coconut cream
85 g unsweetened shredded coconut
100 g castor sugar
FOR THE ICING
240 ml whipping cream
30 g confectioner’s sugar
1 TS hazel nut extract
170 g unsweetened shredded coconut , toasted
Preparation
Step 1
Grease 2 x 9 inches round cake mould and line the bottom of each with parchment paper . Grease the parchment paper, then dust with flour , tapping out excess.
Step 2
Finely grind the coconut in a food processor , then transfer to a bowl . Add pecans to the food processor , along with 2 tablespoons sugar and finely grind them .
Step 3
In a large bowl , sift and mix together flour , baking powder , salt. Stir in coconut and pecans.
Step 4
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment , beat butter , coconut cream and the remaining of sugar on high speed until light and fluffy , about 4 minutes . Add egg , one at a time , mixing well after each addition . Scraping down the bowl as necessary , then beat in hazel nut extract .
Step 5
Add the flour mixtures in 3 batches , alternating with the coconut milk , starting and ending with flour mixture . Divide the mixture between the 2 moulds and smooth the top of each with spatula . Bake until cakes are golden and a tester comes out clean ,30-35 minutes. Let the cake cool in the moulds on the wire rack for 30 minutes. Run the knife around the edge of each cake . Invert onto rack , and remove the parchment . Let cool completely.
Step 6
Meanwhile , make the custard filling , place egg yolks in a small heatproof bowl and set aside. In a saucepan , combine condensed milk , butter and cream of coconut . Cook over medium- low heat , stirring constantly , until hot , about 4 minutes . Whisk 1/3 of hot milk into the egg yolks . Transfer egg mixture to the saucepan of milk and whisk constantly over medium- low heat until mixture has the consistency of pudding , about 4 minutes . Do not let the custard get too thick . Transfer to a bowl and stir in the shredded coconut . Let cool completely .
Step 7
Make the simple syrup : In a saucepan , heat sugar and 1/2 cup of water , stirring occasionally , until sugar has dissolved . Remove from heat .
Step 8
Assemble the layer of cake in a pan : Cut each cake in half horizontally . Place one layer in the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan , moisten the top with 2-3 tablespoons simple syrup and spread 1/2cup of the coconut custard in a thin , even layer with an offset spatula . Repeat to make 2 more layers of cake and filling , then place the last layer on top ( we did not do any of this since we only did 2 layers instead of 4 )
Step 9
Refrigerate cake for about 1 hour . To un mould , run a spatula around the edges , invert the cake plate over the top , and flip the cake over onto the plate.
Step 10
Make the icing , whip the cream with the confectioner’s sugar and hazel nut extract until stiff peak forms. Spread on the top and sides of the cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut . Refrigerate until ready to serve.