Soft and spongy Coconut Cake, #SeedThe Rise

One of our KFB group members alerted us about a campaign going on to improve the lives of farmers in India. Mahindra is running a campaign called #SeedTheRise. It's a fundraising initiative to improve the lives of farmers. Through this campaign, Mahindra aims to raise Rs. 2 Crores from the public and they will match the equal amount from their end as well. The amount will go to four selected NGO's : Digital Greens, Nanhi Kali, Swades Foundation and Nandi Foundation. I think it's an absolutely brilliant campaign and I urge each one of you to donate, every rupee can make a difference so please don't hesitate to donate. See below video link to know more about this cause : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlS2VrSEIdE

As a part of spreading word for this initiative, we are picking up one ingredient which India grows well, cooking with it to spread awareness for this cause. I chose Coconut, as India is the one of the largest Coconut producing Country in India and we Indians can't live without Coconut especially South Indians. Also Eastern region On India uses a lot of Coconut in their diet. We, Bengalis also use coconut extensively in our delicacies. Coconut is one such useful plant that we can use every part of it in some way. Therefore, I chose Coconut and want to dedicate a cake recipe which uses coconut as the main ingredient for flavouring and no need to tell you that the taste of this cake is heavenly.

I made this cake on my hubby's birthday this year and my kids decorated the cake for their papa. Everybody just loved it. Look at the texture of the cake, soft and spongy. It's a full-proof recipe and it just melts in your mouth, taste just heavenly.

You Need :

All purpose flour : 2 cups

Freshly grated coconut/dessicated coconut : 1 cup + 1/2 cup(for decoration)

Sugar, granulated : 1 cup

Eggs : 3

Butter : 1/2 cup

Coconut Milk : 1 cup

Vanilla extract : 1 tsp.

Almond extract : 1 tsp.(optional)

Baking Powder : 1 tsp.

Baking soda : 1/2 tsp.

Salt : 1/2 tsp.

Look at the crack-free, flat-top cake baked using wet towel strip process mentioned below

How To :

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your cake pans and dust lightly with flour.
In a big bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until creamy. Then add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the side of the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled, don't be concerned.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the coconut milk to the batter in 2-3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Now add the freshly grated coconut or dessicated coconut and mix in the batter. Do not over mix.
Pour the batter evenly into your pan. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, until the tops are browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake, comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a baking rack to finish cooling.

Wet towel strip Process : Here I used a technique/process for baking the cake which brings out a crack-free, flat top cake for every cake you bake in this process. I'll explain it here: you just have to wrap the side of the pan with a wet piece of towel. Secure the two ends with a safety pin. The towel will dry up after some time, so wet it again in the middle of the baking time once more.