Hi Everyone,
I’ve been baking and experimenting. Again. With coconut oil. I had such delicious results with the coconut oil scones and pastry earlier this year that I wanted to make it a trio, so I decided to make a pound cake with coconut oil.
Olive oil is used to make pound cakes so why not coconut oil. Also, all box-cake mixes call for some vegetable oil, therefore, armed with the knowledge that cakes can be made with oil, testing the process with coconut oil seemed like a no-brainer.
To test the recipe, I used my regular pound cake recipe (Tastes Like Home – My Caribbean Cookbook. Pg. 300) as a starting point.
The recipe calls for 8 ounces cold 
unsalted butter, I substituted with 8 fluid ounces of coconut oil.
Recipe says to use 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour; I used 2 cups because I wanted to give the cake some more body. Given that I was adding an additional ¼ cup of flour, I felt the need to add additional liquid so I added ½ cup of whole milk.
Cinnamon is such a perfect accompaniment to coconut, therefore, I added about ¼ teaspoon to the cake mixture.
I wasn’t sure whether or not to add more sugar but I felt a little more was required, as a result, instead of a level cup of white granulated sugar; I used one heaped cup of the same sugar.
With the oven preheating I set about mixing the cake. First the eggs with the sugar until pale and creamy then came the coconut oil, milk and essence. The flour mixture comprising of flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon was gradually added to the wet ingredients until it was a smooth batter. The consistency of the batter was pouring but thick. Very different from a traditional pound cake batter. This told me that the cake would take a long time to bake and would need to be not too close to the heat. Because of this, I moved the rack to the middle of the oven; the cake was done in 1 hour flat.
I resisted for 24 hours before cutting into the cake. The main reason is that I wanted the cake to rest and really let the coconut flavour develop. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. Today (writing this column) is Thursday and I baked the cake on Sunday, the coconut flavour has improved even more. When it was baking in the oven it was highly fragrant too.
The results
The cake rose magnificently and the crumb was perfect – uniform, moist and tender, yet with some body. It was not a cake that was overly delicate. Generally speaking, I only like to eat pound cake the same day it is made and it should still be a little warm, however, I found myself returning to this cake more than once. Love it! The taste testers did too.
Are you interested in trying it? My one piece of strict advice would be to use a good quality coconut oil. All you want to taste in the cake is the flavour of coconut.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
1 (9 x 5) loaf pan or a 9-inch round cake pan, well buttered)
1 hand or stand mixer (substitute with a sturdy whisk)
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking power
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon (a pinch) fine table salt
1 heaped cup white sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
8 fluid ounces coconut oil
½ cup whole milk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the middle.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and set aside.
Add the sugar and eggs to a large bowl and beat/whisk together until pale and creamy, about 3 – 6 minutes.
Add the coconut oil, milk and essence to sugar-egg mixture and beat/whisk until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Add the flour to the wet ingredients in 3 installments. Mix until the batter is smooth but be careful not to over mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer/tester comes out clean.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack to rest for 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pan and placing it back on the wire rack to cool completely. If you can resist, let the cake stand covered at room temperature for 1 day before slicing and eating.
Let me know what you think of the cake if you make it.
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
www.tasteslikehome.org
