Champagne-Coconut Cake

Submitted by ncmysteryshopper

"This luscious cake is one of the most requested from the Los Angeles Times. Posted for forum request. Recipe from: Thirty Years of Recipe Requests to the Los Angeles Times by Rose Dosti (Los Angeles Times)"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 19
• Serves: 10-12

ingredients

• Cake

• 2 3⁄4 cups sifted flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2⁄3 cup shortening
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 3⁄4 cup champagne
• 6 egg whites
• 6 large marshmallows, quartered

• Coconut Filling

• 1⁄4 cup butter
• 16 large marshmallows, quartered
• 1 tablespoon white wine
• 1 cup flaked coconut

• Fondant Frosting

• 1 lb powdered sugar
• 1⁄4 cup light corn syrup
• 1⁄4 cup water
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 dash salt
• 3 drops almond extract
• 2 -3 drops red food coloring

directions

1. Resift flour with baking powder and salt. Cream shortening with 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in flour mixture and champagne alternately, mixing to smooth batter.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually beat in remaining 1/2 cup sugar, continuing to beat to stiff meringue. Fold about half of meringue into batter, mixing gently but thoroughly with whisk. Gently fold in remaining meringue.
3. Turn into 2 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes, just until cake tests done. Let stand 10 minutes then turn out onto wire racks to cool.
4. When layers are cool, fill with Coconut Filling between layers. Using 2/3 cup Fondant Frosting, spread thin layer smoothly over top and sides. This seals any crumbs. Pour about 1/2 cup additional frosting over top of cake and spread quickly to smooth layer. Cover sides of cake with second layer of frosting.
5. Dip marshmallow quarters in remaining frosting to coat both sides and set randomly over top and sides of cake. Makes 10-12 servings.
6. Coconut Filling: Combine butter, marshmallows and wine in top of double boiler. Set over simmering water and stir occasionally until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat and stir in coconut. Cool until thick enough to spread.
7. Fondant Frosting: Sift sugar into top of double boiler. Add corn syrup and water. Stir over simmering water until smooth. Blend in vanilla, salt, and almond extract. Stir in food color, if desired. Keep frosting warm while using so it spreads smoothly.

Reviews

[Gina G.]

Not that great. I can taste the champagne. Note that the "batter" is very thick, but the meringue makes it workable. I've made better plain white cakes that are fantastic in taste compared to this one. The texture, etc should make it great, but it doesn't rate with me.

 

[SharonChen]

I made this cake exactly according to the recipe. Loved the cake but the frosting turned out to be a down side. When I saw it calling for 1 lb powdered sugar, I was very skeptical but still followed since I figured that's probably how to make the frosting not too watery. The frosting sealed really fast and it's not that smooth. Even though I kept it warm while frosting the cake as the recipe states, it still didn't allow enough time for me to evenly spread it out. Also, the frosting was not enough to cover my cake, so I went ahead to use some store-bought frosting to finish it up and skipped the marshmallow decoration. It's finally presentable. Now about the taste, frosting was way too sweet but the cake itself was excellent! I would recommend to use a different frosting if you are interested in making this.

 

[chefRD]

I was excited to try this recipe since it is unique. My husband and I am quite torn on this one. He really liked it and I was sort down the middle on it. I loved the texture and the cake baked up beautifully in the oven. The smell was wonderful. You can not taste the champagne, which I found somewhat disappointing. The fondant frosting was not to my liking, although my husband liked it. I will play with this a bit because I really loved the texture and I want to tryl a different filling/frosting. I will keep you posted next time I make this cake. Otherwise, it is a very nice white cake somewhere between a sponge cake but not as light/airy as a regular cake. Thanks for sharing this recipe! ChefRD

 

[FLKeysJen]

Lovely white cake like you'd have at a wedding...you can't taste the champagne but it bakes beautifully. I substituted cake flour for the flour, and also used champagne instead of wine for the filling; since I used pink marshmellows the filling turned out pink! I'll admit that I took the easy way out and used pre-made frosting which was the only part of the cake I didn't love, so next time I'll use your recipe. Made for the Think Pink Tag Game In Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness.