Big City, Little Kitchen

Although I grew up in North Carolina, our dinner table was never furnished with those Southern classics like shrimp and grits, hoppin’ john, or fried chicken (save for my mom’s fairly impressive biscuits). Nevertheless, I feel a particular affinity for those traditional recipes that call to mind big, breezy front porches and tall glasses of sweet iced tea. The January issue of Gourmet magazine is devoted to Southern cooking, and there was no question in my mind that I would be making the coconut cake immediately. This is the cake version of a Southern belle; its fluffy, marshmallow-y frosting is so ladylike, you almost don’t want to ruin it by digging in. Almost.

Cake (adapted from January 2008 Gourmet)

• 3 1/3 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 tb baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp almond extract
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
• 7 large egg whites, room temperature

Meringue Frosting (from January 2008 Gourmet)

• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tb light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or not), separated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 3 9-inch cake pans.

Make cake batter: in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Combine milk and extracts; set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until lightened in color and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until combined. Remove mixture to large bowl.

Thoroughly clean mixing bowl, and replace on mixer. Add egg whites to the bowl, beating on medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a thin stream, and beat until the whites hold stiff peaks. Add one-third of the whites to the batter and stir to combine; fold in remaining whites.

Divide batter evenly between the three pans. Bake for 20 minutes with two pans on upper rack, and one on lower; switch positions, and bake another 10 minutes, or until edges are golden-brown and centers spring back when touched. Cool cakes in pans 10 minutes; run a knife around edges to loosen, and invert onto cooling racks and leave until completely cool.

Make frosting: Set a saucepan of water on the stove to simmer. In a large bowl, beat together egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, water, cream of tartar, and salt using a handheld mixer. Set the bowl onto the pan of simmering water, and beat egg mixture at high speed until it holds stiff, glossy peaks, 5 to 7 minutes (go for a little longer than you think is necessary). Remove bowl from heat and transfer to the bowl of the standing mixer; add vanilla and beat on high another 6 to 8 minutes, until very thick. Remove 2 1/3 cups frosting to a separate bowl and fold in 2 cups shredded coconut.

Assemble cake: place one cake layer on a platter or cake stand; frost surface with half of the frosting-coconut mixture. Add another cake layer on top of the frosted layer; spread surface with remaining coconut frosting. Gently place final cake layer on top, and frost top and sides with remaining frosting. Use the last 1/2 cup of coconut to decorate the cake, scattering it across the top and pressing it into the sides, if desired.

This cake is best served on the day it is frosted. The cake layers will keep, covered in plastic, a day or two before frosting.

Serves 8 to 10.