Key Lime-Coconut Cream Cake

Name: Key Lime-Coconut Cream Cake
Yield: serves 8
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 2 cups granulated sugar; 4 large eggs; 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 cup whole milk; 1 cup granulated sugar; 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 cup water; 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 medium orange); 1/2 cup freshly squeezed Key lime juice (about 8 Key limes); 3 large egg yolks; 2 tablespoons grated Key lime zest (preferably organic); 4 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled; 1 cup sifted powdered sugar; 3 to 4 cups flaked unsweetened coconut, for decorating; 1 lime, sliced, for decorating

December 14, 2011

When I brought this cake to a last-minute dinner, my hosts, Mary and Marshall Cunningham, loved it so much they begged me to take the remainder home. “Don’t leave it here,” they pleaded. “We’ll eat it. We’ll probably eat it for breakfast.” A simple vanilla cake with a layer of tart Key lime curd and a blanket of lightly sweetened whipped cream, Mary dubbed it “the perfect cake for spring or summer.”

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