Josehind Cake
Submitted by kilcharran
Coconut sheet cake soaked in lemon syrup with a drizzled cream cheese frosting. A Middle Eastern-inspired dessert with shredded coconut, lemon zest, and a sweet syrup that keeps it incredibly moist.
YIELD
30 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
25 minREADY
1 hrsThis syrup-soaked coconut sheet cake borrows a technique from Middle Eastern baking: pouring a cooled lemon syrup over the hot cake so it absorbs into every crumb. The result is a cake that stays moist for days and has a sweet, citrusy tang running through each bite.
Shredded coconut and lemon zest go right into the batter, giving it texture and fragrance. The alternating flour-milk mixing method keeps the crumb tender. The recipe warns against overmixing and means it. Stop as soon as the flour disappears.
The cream cheese frosting gets thinned with milk until it falls in a heavy ribbon, then drizzled in a random pattern over the top. Leaving open spaces where the syrup-soaked cake shows through gives it a rustic, beautiful look.
Kitchen Tips
- The syrup must be cool and the cake must be hot when you pour. Hot syrup on hot cake creates a soggy mess instead of even absorption.
- Let the syrup boil for just 1 minute after it turns clear. Any longer and it starts to caramelize and change flavor.
- Bake in the center of the oven for even browning. The cake is done when it pulls away from the sides of the pan.
- This feeds a crowd. A standard sheet pan yields about 30 pieces.
Variations
- Toast the shredded coconut before folding into the batter for a deeper, nuttier flavor.
- Swap lemon for orange juice and zest in both the syrup and cake for an orange-coconut version.
- Add a handful of chopped pistachios on top of the frosting drizzle for color and crunch.
Ingredients
Directions
Bring sugar, water and lemon juice to a boil in a heavy saucepan, over medium - high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Let syrup boil for 1 minute. Set aside to cool after it becomes clear.
CAKE: Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
Mix in coconut and lemon rind.
Gently blend in flour mix, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour.
DO NOT overmix. Pour into a buttered 15½ inch x 10½ inch x 1½ inch baking pan.
Bake in center of oven 25 minutes, or until cake shrinks away from sides of pan.
Place on a rack. Pour cooled syrup over hot cake.
Let cool.
FROSTING: Cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Blend in sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Thin frosting with milk until it falls in a heavy ribbon from a spoon.
Drizzle in a heavy random pattern over cake, leaving some open spaces on surface of cake.
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