Two months ago, my aunt, Sona Osbigyan, passed away from complications she experienced after suffering a stroke. It was a pretty tragic and emotional time for my family because she had an incredible part in each of our lives.
My aunt Sona had one of the kindest hearts ever. She loved everyone and befriended people so easily. I think it was partly the fact that she loved to talk and make people laugh, and partly because she always gave everyone presents. We still have a box of almond and date chocolate bars that she ordered for us prior to her passing.
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She and my uncle Koko visited our home almost every Saturday. It brought the entire family together for Saturday dinners and created such wonderful memories for me growing up. Saturdays have lost a bit of excitement and joy, now...
Aunt Sona had a sweet tooth and she loved loved loved coconut cakes (boxed cakes). Often, when she visited our home, she would ask me whether I had baked a coconut cake for her. She looked forward to them so much. So, in honor of her, I decided to create my own non-boxed coconut cake.
Most of the reason for not posting on my blog the past two months is that I tried baking this cake at least 5 separate times. It always came out too dense...sometimes, it was just inedible. I guess it's true what they say about baking....trial and error is so important and you just cannot give up. I could tell, though, that my family and friends were getting so sick and tired of having to eat slice after slice of dense coconut cakes. I continued to play around with it and finally got the texture I was looking for! It's a pretty light cake, but packed full of coconut flavor.
Morkoor Sona, this one is for you...
Coconut Yogurt Cake
1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted (see below at instruction #2)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup whole fat milk (any type of milk should do)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup shredded coconut flakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and set aside.
2. For the cake flour, I used all-purpose flour and cornstarch to get homemade cake flour. I sifted the one and a half cups of all-purpose flour in a bowl. I then replaced two tablespoons of the all-purpose flour with two tablespoons of cornstarch. I then shifted that mixture a couple times to make sure that the cornstarch and all-purpose flour were well incorporated.
3. Whisk together your homemade cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat the eggs one at a time. Mix the eggs for at least 3-4 minutes. Then, add the sugar and continue to mix the for another 4-5 minutes. This step is important because you want to make sure that you get air in your mixture.
6. Slowly add the Greek yogurt and continue to mix until well incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla extract, as well, and mix.
7. Add your dry ingredients mixture slowly. Do not use a mixture for this stage. Just use a wooden spoon to incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. I used a number 8 motion sign when incorporating the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients because I felt this type of movement helps to fully incorporate the dry ingredients (at previous times, I noticed that the dry ingredients were not well incorporated and it caused a lot of lumps in my cake).
8. Finally, add the coconut flakes. Go on, taste that batter....you know you want to :)
9. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake in oven for about 45-55 minutes, depending on the type of pan you use. I used a dark aluminum pan, which cooks the cake much faster than a lighter colored pan would. Insert a skewer in the center of the cake to make sure it is baked fully.
10. Put cake on cooling rack and let cool for 20 minutes.
