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Dessert

Cocoanut Layer Cake

A two-layer cake with coconut in the batter, put together with a boiled sugar and coconut filling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By [Hayes, Emma (Allen), Mrs.], 1868- [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Cocoanut Layer Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cake

  1. Cream together the quarter pound of butter and six ounces of sugar.

  2. Add the yolks of five eggs and beat until light.

  3. Add ¾ cupful of milk, 2½ cups of flour, 2 heaping teaspoons of baking powder sifted three times, 1 cup Baker's Cocoanut, and the stiffly beaten whites of eggs.

  4. Mix carefully and divide into medium sized layer pans which have been buttered and floured.

  5. Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes.

Make the filling

  1. Filling: boil together 1 cup sugar and ¾ cup water until they form a soft ball when tested in cold water.

  2. Pour slowly while hot into the stiffly beaten white of 2 eggs, beating all the time.

  3. When stiff, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 cup cocoanut.

Assemble and finish

  1. When cold, put together with cocoanut filling and dust over with sugar.

  2. Put this between two layers of the cake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

696Calories
19 gProtein
18 gFat
109 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Cakenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By [Hayes, Emma (Allen), Mrs.], 1868- [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds fat and richness, giving the cake a tender crumb and flavour.
Eggs
Whites provide structure and lift when beaten; yolks add richness and colour.
Flour
Forms the structure of the cake once it sets in the oven.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the layers rise and stay light.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender texture when creamed with butter.
Cocoanut
Adds moisture, chew and coconut flavour to the cake and filling.

The step that matters

Pour the hot syrup slowly into the egg whites. Beating while pouring gradually cooks and stiffens the whites into a marshmallow-like filling. Pouring too fast can deflate them or leave the syrup unevenly mixed, so the filling stays runny.

Swap the vanilla

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, egg):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillathe original
  3. Figfits less well
  4. Lemonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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