Pound Cake with Coconut Oil

If you’ve been eyeing that summer pound cake from your favorite bakery, hold onto your pocket book for just a few days more!  Before you buy, make this Toasted Coconut Cream Pound Cake with wholesome ingredients, including virgin coconut oil, fresh eggs and shredded coconut. 

A Recipe from The Cake Lady

This recipe is shared with permission by the inestimable Quinn, of Reformation Acres, from her newest book Cake Stand.  She sent me a copy for review and I had to ask her to let me share this recipe with you.  The kids and I made it this morning for breakfast.  I know, cake for breakfast.

Before you judge, look at these ingredients (including the aforementioned coconut oil) and tell me how could you get any better, any richer, any more delectable?  We paired it with some hearty scrambled eggs and fresh fruit.  Being pound cake, this recipe would work well with just about anything, to be honest.  It would certainly make a very fine addition to your next picnic or as an icebox cake for a special occasion.

After you’ve made this delectable thing, you may just want to curl up with a piece and a good book.  We have a suggestion for that – click below!

The Benefits of Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has got to be one of the most well-searched keywords on the Internet – in the area of food and health, anyway.  With good reason!  Coconut oil, to borrow from Benjamin Franklin, is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.  If you have yet to do much research into coconut oil and/or you’re still wondering what all the fuss is about, here are a few articles to get you started:

101 Best Coconut Oil Uses and Benefits from Wellness Mama

Frequently Asked Questions about Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions

Virgin Coconut Oil – the book, also from Tropical Traditions.  They know their coconut oil!

The Freshest Ingredients

If you can, be sure to get your hands on some fresh-from-the-animal cream.  Commercial cream, even the organic versions, are ultra-pasteurized and, in my opinion, lose quite a bit of the robustness of their flavor.  If you don’t have access to anything but store-bought cream, it will certainly work and will taste great in this recipe.

The same goes for eggs.  If you can, try to find farm-fresh, pasture raised eggs.  If you can’t get those, buy the next best thing you’re able.  I’m usually obliged to buy eggs a few times a year, even though I have chickens, and I stand in the grocery store aisle for a long time trying to decide between organic and vegetarian-fed, “free range” and humanely raised.  It’s a crapshoot half the time, so just do the best you can.

In Praise of Cake Stand

One of my favorite things about Quinn’s Cake Stand book is that there’s no judgment from her on what ingredients you choose to use.  While she does encourage you to bake with the very healthiest ingredients you can, she’s a busy mom just like you.  She knows what it’s like to make the best decision you can based on your budget and what’s available to you.  Don’t stress.  Quinn can teach you to bake wonderful cakes from healthy ingredients – Chocolate Kale Cake, anyone?

(Yes, that’s really a recipe from her book and I’m making it next.  More on that later.)

Pound Cake with Coconut Oil Recipe

Don’t be intimidated by the two steps and DO NOT omit the cream custard because it’s sloppy delicious.

Toasted Coconut Cream Pound Cake

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup virgin coconut oil
• 1/4 Cup butter, softened
• 1 Cup sugar
• 4 Eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 1 1/2 Cups shredded coconut + 1/2 Cup for toasting

Cream Custard:

• 1 Cup cream
• 1/4 Cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. Cornstarch
• 2 Egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease one loaf pan with a bit of soft butter.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the coconut oil, butter, and sugar until it is light and airy.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the salt, baking powder, and flour.

4. Add the eggs to the coconut oil mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and then beat in the vanilla.

5. Add the flour mixture and mix it together until the flour is fully incorporated.
6. Stir in 1 cup shredded coconut and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

7. Bake the cake for 40-50 minutes until it springs back when lightly touched.

8. Transfer it to a cooling rack for about 15 minutes before inverting and allowing it to completely cool.

9. Place the cup coconut on a baking sheet and toast it until it is golden brown. Check it every few minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn.

10. To prepare the custard sauce, combine the cream, sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks in a small saucepan and bring them to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil the mixture for a minute until it thickens. Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool it down to room temperature before drizzling over the cake or slices of cake.

11. Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the top.

Coconut Oil is only the beginning…

I was drawn to this recipe because of the coconut oil but there are so many other gut-healthy, whole-foods ingredients in these recipes.  From yogurt to mascarpone to chamomile tea, there’s and abundance of intriguing additions to the recipes in Cake Stand.  The ingredient-pairings are meant to come from your own garden or homestead, or even your closest farmers market.

The kids and I decided that to be truly scientific about it, we’re going to have to make three recipes from this book.  You know, just to be sure that they’re good. Upon reflection, we then decided that, in the name of science, of course, we were going to have to make all the cakes in Cake Stand.  It’s going to be tough, but I think we’re up to the arduous task of making and eating Quinn’s cakes.

Which one do you think we should try next?

Chocolate Fudge Ricotta Cake?  Zucchini Cake?  I do have A LOT of zukes right now.

Sweet Potato Molasses Cupcakes – ooh, good for the start of school!

Apricot Cream Cake?  I think I drooled on my screen when I saw that one.  Oh, by the way, the photos in this cookbook are delicious.  You’ll want to buy it just so you can look at them.

Ok, no – I think I’ve decided.  Our next one will be the Peach and Blueberry Bundt Cake!  Wait, didn’t I say our next would be the Chocolate Kale Cake?  Drat.  Well, I guess I’ll just have to make two cakes this weekend.  Whatever shall I do with them?

For the “non-cake baker” – a little note

If you stink at making cakes, you’re in good company.  Cakes usually have too many steps for me – I kind of lose track mid-recipe and am never very precise.  And, please, never make me frost a cake.  I plain don’t have the skill, regardless of how inspired I might get on Pinterest.

Because of that, I was a little leery of reviewing a cake making book.  I’m much more comfortable with an undemanding pie*.  However, after looking over these recipes, I’m confident I can handle them.  Besides, Quinn included a whole troubleshooting area (yeah, I  read that part first) and she took time to go over the basics at the very beginning.  I’ve followed her blog for awhile and I know she’s a stellar chef.  So, I appreciate that she succinctly and clearly explained how anyone can make great cakes – even me.

No Froo-Froo

You won’t find any froo-froo frosting ideas – no Cinderella’s castles or swimming pool designs.  As fun as those frostings can be, they’re not Quinn’s focus in Cake Stand.  (So be aware, if that’s what you’re looking for).  What you will find are nearly twenty different unique and timeless recipes for glazes, creams, meringues and frostings separate and apart from all the amazing cake recipes.  Each topping recipe is a dessert on its own.  Sweet Honey Frosting, Berry Buttercream, Chocolate Crackle Glaze, Brown Butter Maple Glaze…

I’m sorry, my mind wandered off somewhere…

*Speaking of pie, be sure to scroll all the way down on the Cake Stand page at Reformation Acres (click here) to see the great offer Quinn has going.  It’s a free book that features farm-fresh pies.  Might be worth a looksy.