Coconut Filled Lemon Cake

Summer is just around the corner and we have bountiful of citrus fruits here. The lemons that I bought that day were huge and I used it to make this cake. I got this recipe from King Arthur Flour website. This cake is perfect in many ways. It has golden brown crust, fine crumbs and the coconut filling is a nice surprise. If you don’t fancy coconut you can just omit the filling and have a lemon cake instead.

Ingredients for the Filling:

2 large egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup powder/confectioner’s sugar
½ tsp of coconut flavor or 2 tsp vanilla (I used vanilla)
2 tbsp flour
2 cups shredded sweetened coconut (I used only 1 ½ cups)

1. In a clean mixing bowl, whisk egg white, salt and cream of tart until soft and fluffy. Add in the powder sugar and continue to whisk on high speed until stiff. Stir in the vanilla.
2. Toss the coconut with the 2 tbsp of flour. Add into the egg white and mix well. Set it aside while you make the cake.

Ingredients for the Cake:

2 stick/1 cup/226 grm unsalted butter – room temperature
2 cups sugar (I used only 1 ½ cups)
1 tsp salt
4 large eggs
2 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour
1 cup milk
Zest of two lemons

Glaze:

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
¾ cup sugar (I used only 1/3 cup)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" to 10", 9 to 10-cup capacity Bundt-style pan, or a 10" tube pan. Sift flour, baking powder and salt and set it aside.
2. Beat together the butter, sugar, and salt, first till combined, then till fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl after adding each egg.
3. Add in the flour alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until smooth. Stir in the grated lemon zest. Mix well. Spoon about 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.
4. Distribute the filling atop the batter, centering it within the ring of batter so it doesn't touch the sides of the pan. Pat it down gently. (I put the filling in a piping bag and pipe it to the center of the batter) Dollop the remaining batter on top, again smoothing it with a spatula.
5. Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. While the cake is baking, make the glaze by stirring together the lemon juice and sugar. Set it aside.
6. Remove the cake from the oven, and set it on a rack. After 5 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen, and turn the cake out onto a rack. Poke the hot cake all over with a cake tester or toothpick. Stir the glaze to combine, and immediately brush it on the hot cake, Let the glaze sink in, then brush on more glaze, continuing until all the glaze is used up. Allow the cake to cool before cutting into it.