Italian Coconut cake with Coconut and Cream cheese frosting

For me,the most difficult part of blogging is to decide what to make next...I have so many recipes bookmarked from so many places but when the time comes to cook , I am all confused.....So many concerns suddenly pops up and make decision making all the more difficult....My latest concern is to finish the stuff, lying in the kitchen cabinets before going back...I have a special attachment to coconut....It gives a nice crunch and flavor to the recipe.....And I had some leftover which I wanted to put  to good use....So while surfing for some recipe that had coconut in it, I landed on this beautiful blog by Christi http://www.honeyandbutter.com.....I loved the way she has presented the cake....For me presentation is a big part of cooking...I always try to make my recipes look good and I was sold out when I saw this beautiful creation.....So here is the recipe...

All you need is

For the cake

Butter-2 oz

Vegetable oil-1\2 cup

Sugar-1\2 cup

Eggs-3 { separated }

Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Coconut flakes-1\2 cup

Flour-1 cup

Baking powder-1\2 tsp

Baking soda-1\2 tsp

Milk- 1\2 cup

Lemon juice-1\2 tsp

For soaking syrup

Sugar-1\4 cup
Water-1\4 cup
Vanilla extract-1\2 tsp

For the frosting

Unsalted butter-2 oz

Cream cheese-8 oz {You can also use hung yogurt instead of cream cheese. Just hang the yogurt in a muslin cloth for 6-8hours, so that all the water is drained out }

Vanilla extract- 1tsp

Confectioner's sugar- 1lb

Coconut flakes-1\2 cup

Method of preparation

For the cake

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees

Grease and line, two 9" cake pans

Add lemon juice in milk and keep aside { The original recipe called for buttermilk,but as buttermilk is not available in India, I always substitute it with this combination of milk and lemon juice }

Mix flour with baking soda and baking powder

Beat egg whites till they form stiff peaks

In a bowl, cream butter, sugar and oil till light and creamy

Mix in egg yolks, vanilla and coconut flakes

Add half of the flour to this mixture and mix

Add half of the buttermilk and mix

Repeat with the remaining flour and buttermilk

Fold in the egg white

Pour the batter in the prepared pans

Bake for 20 minutes

Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes

Then take out from the pan and cool on a wire rack

For coconut and cream cheese frosting

Combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla and sugar and cream till light and fluffy

Add coconut flakes and mix

For soaking syrup

Boil sugar in water till dissolved
Add vanilla extract
Cool

Assembling the cake

Keep one of the cake on the cake board
Brush the cake with soaking syrup
Cover with some frosting
Keep another cake on top of this and brush with the soaking syrup
Cover with the remaining frosting
Decorate as you want to

The cake turned out wonderful.....It was very soft and moist with the amazing flavor and crunch of the coconut....Do try it out....