It took me a long time to develop this cake, as coconut flour is tricky to work with. The result, I'm happy to say, is a light and tasty cake. I used Aloha Nu coconut flour (available from Netrition). Coconut flour carb and calorie counts do vary by brand. I found that one cup of this flour weighs three ounces, and that is the amount I used to do the nutritional analysis of the cake.
Ingredients:
- 12 egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 cup coconut flour
- ½ cup melted coconut oil or butter, or (my favorite) ¼ cup of each
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- sugar substitute equal to 1¼ cup sugar (liquid preferred, see below)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract (or can use Coconut Sugar-Free Syrup such as Da Vinci's to substitute
- for part of the sweetener and water).
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 13X9 pan by greasing with butter or coconut oil.
1. Separate the eggs, being careful that no yolk gets into the whites. I usually separate the whites one at a time into a small dish, and then dump it into the mixing bowl to be sure I didn't mess it up. If you get yolk or any oil into the egg whites or the bowl, they will not foam up properly, so the bowl should be totally clean.
2. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar (this improves the stability of the beaten whites). Continue until whites form peaks when beaters are lifted -- it's fine if the peaks are soft. If you are going to use the bowl you beat the whites in as the main mixing bowl, transfer the whites to another bowl for now (no need to clean the main bowl).
3. In main mixing bowl, beat the eight yolks until smooth, and then add the salt, coconut flour, melted coconut oil and/or butter, water, vanilla, sweetener, extract, and baking powder. Mix well.
4. Add about a third of the egg white to the batter and mix in with a spatula (don't mix vigorously or use beaters, as you don't want to deflate the foam too much). Fold in half of the remaining whites, and then the final amount. It's OK if there are a few streaks of white remaining. Pour batter into prepared pan and even off.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Surface will be lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into 12 pieces.
Note: Due to the high egg content, this cake should be kept in the refrigerator after cooling. Also, the coconut fiber will continue to attract water in humid weather. This can be partially prevented by the refrigeration, but after a couple of days, freezing will do a better job of preserving it.
1. Separate the eggs, being careful that no yolk gets into the whites. I usually separate the whites one at a time into a small dish, and then dump it into the mixing bowl to be sure I didn't mess it up. If you get yolk or any oil into the egg whites or the bowl, they will not foam up properly, so the bowl should be totally clean.
2. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar (this improves the stability of the beaten whites). Continue until whites form peaks when beaters are lifted -- it's fine if the peaks are soft. If you are going to use the bowl you beat the whites in as the main mixing bowl, transfer the whites to another bowl for now (no need to clean the main bowl).
3. In main mixing bowl, beat the eight yolks until smooth, and then add the salt, coconut flour, melted coconut oil and/or butter, water, vanilla, sweetener, extract, and baking powder. Mix well.
4. Add about a third of the egg white to the batter and mix in with a spatula (don't mix vigorously or use beaters, as you don't want to deflate the foam too much). Fold in half of the remaining whites, and then the final amount. It's OK if there are a few streaks of white remaining. Pour batter into prepared pan and even off.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Surface will be lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into 12 pieces.
Note: Due to the high egg content, this cake should be kept in the refrigerator after cooling. Also, the coconut fiber will continue to attract water in humid weather. This can be partially prevented by the refrigeration, but after a couple of days, freezing will do a better job of preserving it.
Serving suggestions:
I haven't found a great sugar-free frosting for this coconut cake, but here are some suggestions that work well:- "Frost" with a layer of homemade whipped cream and strawberries or other berries. (If you do this and there aren't enough people to eat the cake within a day, it's probably better to do this one slice at a time.)
- Even better, split the cake horizontally, and put the whipped cream and berries in between as well as on top.
- Layer with sugar-free lemon or lime curd and put more curd on top. (Use 1 egg and 3 egg yolks to use up yolks generated by cake recipe.)
- Top with Sugar-Free Strawberry Topping or Easy Three-Berry Syrup.
- Feel free to add suggestions below!
