I'm Coconut Loafing About This Cake*

This coconut lemon cake had the please of being a lovely coworker's birthday cake. As mentioned previously, I'm really into cookbooks these days. I've admired the Short Stack mini cookbooks from afar (and well in bookstores) but never bought one. However after trying the coconut-lemon tea cake recipe from Lemons I might be converted.

COCONUT-LEMON TEA CAKE
LEMONS, BY ALISON ROMAN (SHORT STACK EDITIONS, VOLUME 13)

 1 ½ cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
 2 teaspoons baking powder
 ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
 1 ¼ cup (250 grams) sugar, divided
 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
 ¾ cup (210 grams) whole-milk Greek yogurt
 ½ cup (80 grams) coconut oil, melted
 2 large eggs
 ½ cup (35 grams) unsweetened coconut flakes
 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a (9”x5”-ish) loaf pan lightly with cooking spray or butter, and line it with parchment paper. Grease that too, while you’re at it. (Though trying to grease paper with butter can be an infuriating, wrinkle-filled endeavor, so I won’t blame you if you skip it.)
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and kosher salt.
• In a large bowl, rub 1 cup of the sugar with the lemon zest until the sugar is fragrant and yellow and smells, well, like you just rubbed a lemon in there. Whisk in the yogurt, coconut oil, and eggs. Add the flour mixture, and stir just to blend.
• Scrape the batter into your prepared pan, and smooth the top. Sprinkle coconut flakes over the surface, and bake until the top of the cake is golden brown, the edges pull away from the side of the pan, and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. (At around 45 minutes, if the coconut on top is browning before the cake is done, tent the cake loosely with foil)
• While the cake bakes, combine the lemon juice and remaining ¼ cup of sugar in a small saucepan, and bring it to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, just until the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the heat, and keep the mixture warm. When the cake is done, brush the top with the syrup; then return the cake to the oven and bake for 5 minutes more to re-crisp the coconut. Remove the cake from the oven, and cool completely before serving.

This Week's Breadlist

• If you thought last week's avocado toast post was bad, DO NOT read this article about an avocado toast cocktail. (Nope, not kidding.)
• #FilmsMadeofBread How did I miss this hashtag on Twitter last week?? A few of my favorite are: The Bun Identity, The Sword and the Scone, You've Got Stale. But really they're all good. Oh, bread puns. 
• My one big splurge from my trip to Japan was a chef's knife. This video from Epicurious all about chef's knives (and them only!) is interesting, informative and makes me want to use my knife right away knowing more about the knife I purchased. 

Amy

* I really wanted a better coconut pun, but just couldn't make it happen.