Tuesdays with Dorie: Apple-Coconut Family Cake
December 14, 2010 at 9:37 am | Posted in cakes & tortes, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 16 Comments
R and I just got ourselves a new desktop computer. After working off laptops for the past six or seven years, my fingers feel very clumsy on a full-size keyboard and I’m not used to a mouse at all. (Can you tell I also haven’t had a desk job in a really long time?) I have to be sure to hit the spell-check button, or this post will be riddled with typos. I’m excited to see all the beautiful Apple-Coconut Family Cakes on a big screen, though!
There’s something about the term “family cake” that sounds really appealing…cute and cozy. And there’s something about the apple-coconut combination that sounds unusual…how often do you see those two paired up? Even though there is quite a lot of coconut in this cake (I used unsweetened desiccated coconut from the health food store, which is more finely grated than the sweetened sheds), I didn’t find its flavor to be that pronounced…I actually thought it tasted more of the rum than coconut. Instead, I noticed most what it gave to the cake’s texture– sturdiness and bit of chew. A heap of diced apples kept it moist and the unsweetened coconut kept it from being too saccharine. This is one I’ll make again.
We are just a family of two, so I only made half a recipe. Despite its small size, my cake took longer to bake than the 45 minutes Dorie recommended for the full version. At the 45 minute mark, the edge was nicely browned, but the middle was still wet, so I put foil over the pan and popped it back in the oven for an extra 5+ minutes. That helped steam up the middle a bit and cooked it through.
For the recipe, see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or read Cobbler du Monde, as it was Amber’s pick this week. Don’t forget to check out the TWD Blogroll!
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a whisk and a spoon 
That looks delicious! I often find that recipes with lots of coconut turn out really well… I’m going to try this one for our little family too. Thank you! And I love your photos 😉
Comment by Rhi@FlourChild— December 14, 2010 #
Beautiful! It looks totally cute and cozy…just like the name implies! Mine took a lot longer too!
Comment by Jessica— December 14, 2010 #
yours looks delicious! I think you were smart to use the unsweetened coconut. I used sweetened and my cake was extremely sweet!
Comment by Lauryn— December 14, 2010 #
Looks absolutely gorgeous Steph. I also really like how you arranged the apples. Looks to elegant.
Comment by Eliana— December 14, 2010 #
Your cake is pretty! It doesn’t even look half-sized. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Comment by Amber Marie— December 14, 2010 #
yeah i agree with eliana it does look very elegant! thanks for sharing this lovely post…hope you have a nice day.
Comment by blackbookkitchendiaries— December 14, 2010 #
Picture perfect!!! I could use a slice about now.
Comment by Lauren Simon— December 14, 2010 #
Your cake is beautiful, Steph! I love the smaller size, too – I really need one of those pans! 🙂
Comment by Jessica of My Baking Heart— December 14, 2010 #
Would this cake double? I think I’d like to make it for friends. Love the flavors it portends!
Comment by Sam— December 14, 2010 #
Hi, Sam. The full recipe makes a 9-inch cake. If you want double that, I’d make two separate batches in two separate cake pans. I think the cake takes too long to bake to successfully cook a giant one.
Comment by steph (whisk/spoon)— December 14, 2010 #
Looks very delicious! I made mine in muffin tins and they took almost 40 minutes to bake. Must be something about this cake! Oh well, it was tasty!
Comment by Heather B— December 14, 2010 #
Your cake looks great. I’ll have to make this one up sometime.
Comment by Katrina— December 15, 2010 #
Looks really lovely. I didn’t make it yet, we are sort of dessert-ed out here at the moment and I could not rouse any interest in making one so figured I would just postpone and do another time when there was interest. Sometimes it goes like that around here. Congrats on new computer, always fun to have a new toy!
Comment by Kayte— December 15, 2010 #
beautifully done!
Comment by Dmarie— December 15, 2010 #
i love cakes, this looks really great
Comment by Noobfoodie— December 16, 2010 #
Your cake looks delicious! We liked this but I think I should have halved it as well.
Comment by Karen— December 19, 2010 #