Coconut Cake

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment, butter the paper and dust the pans with flour.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Beat the butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Scrape the bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and coconut extract. It may look a little curdled at this point, and that is fine.
4. With the mixer on low, add a third of the flour mixture, then half of the coconut milk. Repeat, and finish with the last of the flour, mixing only until no streaks remain.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 20 to 26 minutes, until the tops are pale gold and spring back when pressed lightly, the edges start to pull from the pans and a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs. If the pans do not all fit on one rack, use two racks and swap them halfway through.
6. Cool the layers in the pans on racks for 10 minutes. Turn them out, peel off the paper and cool completely, about 1 hour.
7. For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. On low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, then the vanilla, coconut extract and salt. Beat on medium for 1 to 2 minutes, until fluffy. If it is too soft to spread, chill it for 15 minutes.
8. Set one layer on a cake plate. Spread it with about 1 cup of frosting and sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the coconut. Repeat with the second layer. Set the third layer on top, bottom side up, and frost the top and sides with the rest.
9. Press the remaining coconut onto the top and sides by the handful, until the cake looks snowy all over. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set the frosting before slicing.

Good to know

• Make ahead: wrap the cooled layers in plastic and keep them at room temperature for 1 day, or freeze them for up to 1 month. The finished cake keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Let it sit out for about 30 minutes before slicing so the crumb softens, and put it back within 2 hours, since the frosting has cream cheese.
• Use canned coconut milk, not cream of coconut, which is much sweeter, and not light coconut milk, which makes a drier cake.
• For a more old-fashioned taste, use grated fresh or frozen coconut, thawed and patted dry, in place of the flaked coconut. It tastes best within a day or two.