CookingDiva

I am very happy Jasmine accepted my last minute entry. It was really fun to recreate this old times favorite cake.

Edna Staebler passed away last September, and to honor her the delicious food roundup will be posted tomorrow January 15, on what would have been her 101st birthday.

I have to confess that I purchased Edna's Schmecks cookbook last night, I couldn't help it, it was one of those things: I had to have it!

Now, this is the recipe:

Coconut Cloud Cake (from Serena Shantz)

Pretty and good; you can easily cut the recipe in half if you don't want a layer cake.

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs, separated
• 3 cups sifted flour
• 4 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup desiccated coconut (*I used toasted coconut)
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon almond almond extract

Instructions:

Cream shortening, add sugar and beaten egg yolks and 1 egg white; continue beating.  Sift flour with baking powder and salt, mix with coconut and add alternately with milk and flavourings to butter mixture.  Pour into greased layer-cake pans and bake in 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes.  Cool; remove from pans to a rack and ice with Angel Feather Icing (see Icings, page 237), sprinkle shredded coconut generously on top and sides of cake after you've iced both the layers and put one on top of the other.

Angel Feather Icing

There's nothing better for an angel cake or a layer cake than this almost foolproof and luscious icing; it doesn't dissolve, run away or get crusty; it stays tender and fluffy for days if anyone lets it last that long.

• 2 egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or other flavouring

Instructions:

Put everything but the vanilla into the top of a double boiler with fast-boiling water below.  Start beating immediately with a rotary beater or electric mixer until the mixture stands in stiff peaks. Remove from heat, add flavouring, and keep on beating until it is thick enough to spread easily.  You'll be delighted and everyone will exclaim when they see the glorified cake.

The result: a delicious cake with a tropical spirit! It is also delicious by itself, without frosting. I used butter, because I love it's taste and the health benefits.

We invite you to try the recipe soon, you won't regret it!

Have a tasty week!

Melissa

Tags: blogging events, food blogs, cookingdiva, recipes, food & drink, Edna Staebler

Global Voices invites you to help fellow bloggers living in other parts of the world get to know you better. We’re finding that people in different countries blog for different reasons, and that blogospheres in different places have developed different kinds of relationships with the rest of their culture, politics, and mainstream media. We’d like to help people understand you and your region’s blogosphere better. (Rebecca MacKinnon, Global Voices Online)

• Why did you start blogging?
  I wanted to share my recipes and culinary knowledge with fellow Latin American ex-pats living in English speaking countries.
• What do you blog about mainly?
  Well, I blog mostly about our cooking adventures in the tropics. Everywhere we travel, I make sure to bring my camera and document the event. I also have Diablo-Rojo.net (ES) where all the blogging is about living in Panama, politics.
• Do you blog in your first language or in another language, and why?
  My first language is Spanish, but I sure enjoy writing in English, I guess because the word can travel to more places!
• What motivates you to keep blogging even if (like most bloggers) you're not paid much for it?
  Hmmm-good question! I can't deny I am a little obsessed with it. It's like a cold that I never recover from
• Is your audience mainly inside your own country or around the world?
  he he...they come from all over the place! I guess people like food...
• What do your family and friends think about the fact that you are a blogger?
  They sometimes think that my commitment to blogging crosses the line. Which line? I ask. Well, perhaps they are not as outspoken as I am. I am just doing my duty
• When you blog, how would you describe what you write? Is it part of a conversation? Is it ranting? Is it a daily diary? Is it journalism? Is it some or all of these things at different times? Does the definition matter?
  I would say it is a friendly conversation with my loyal readers, or the one that accidentally lands here!

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• Higo Blog: documenting their adventures from Japan. The photography is outstanding!
• Imagined Community: a multi-cultural, filled with humor blog written by Jennifer from Boston, Massachusetts.