Coconut Lime Cake

I hope everyone had a happy Easter. We didn't do much. We stayed home and had the usual Easter festivities among the three of us. We're going out of town this Spring break, so I need this time to get organized and ready.

Dinner? Awe, thanks for asking. It was lovely!
We had a spiral ham with Mac and Cheese. Kellie LOVES macaroni and cheese and this was the perfect opportunity to make this recipe again. Served with fresh roasted asparagus, it was delicious!!!

We also had a Coconut and Lime Cake that was scrumptious. I decorated it a bit for Easter. The coconut topping was perfect to decorate for the holiday and I used some leftover flowers I had from my wedding cake project.



I figure I better show this cake now, even if it's after Easter. I don't want the pictures to sit on my computer like my Christmas cake did. Who wants to see a pretty Christmas cake come Valentines? Exactly! You know what I'm talking about. So I don't want to show you my Easter cake on the 4Th of July. I can be lazy like that sometimes.



But don't think of this as an Easter cake! It was just decorated with an Easter theme. This is an everyday cake that's perfect with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning! ;)

I first saw this cake over at Maria's blog, Two Peas and Their Pod. She used buttermilk, I used regular. Go ahead, you can check out her cake here!



Coconut Lime Cake
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups Cake flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lime juice, divided
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon rum (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 9- by 2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment paper.

Beat together butter, granulated sugar, and zest with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Stir together flour and 1/2 cup coconut (reserve remainder for topping). Stir together milk and 2 Tbsp lime juice. At low speed, mix flour and milk mixtures into egg mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour.
Spoon batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool to warm, then turn out of pan and discard parchment.
Whisk together confectioners sugar, remaining 2 Tbsp lime juice, and rum (if using) and pour over cake. Sprinkle with remaining coconut.