Please, sir, may I have another?

I had cake over the weekend.

Georgia & Susan's Charming Coconut Cake Recipe

Oh, ya'll. If I could, I'd send you all a piece of this heaven. It's my mom's coconut cake (you remember the mom and her red-velvet concoction? This is on the same level). The recipe originated with my great-grandmother Georgia, and since her passing, my mom has spent the past 20 some odd years figuring out just how Georgia did it. And Mom has nailed it, I tell ya.

I've placed it in my blog's "Easy Recipes" category, but this isn't the easiest in the bunch, to be honest. It involves fresh coconuts and their milk, and takes about two days from start to finish. Nevertheless, IT IS SO WORTH IT.

This year's cake was especially amazing--"shut-your-mouth good," as my sister-in-law would say. Print it out and keep it for a special occasion. You'll be so glad you did.

Fresh Coconut Cake

3 cups cake flour

2 cups sugar

5 eggs

8 oz butter

1/3 cup Crisco

1 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 coconuts (shake to make sure they're full of milk)

Cream butter, sugar, and Crisco. Add eggs, one at a time. Add flour and milk alternately. Add vanilla. Make 4 layers. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes.

Grate coconut and save milk. Make 7-Minute Icing.

7-Minute Icing

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon juice or 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2 egg whites

4 tbsp cold water

1/2 tsp vanilla

Boil ingredients until a soft ball is formed. Pour over egg whites and beat. (Beat egg whites first.) Pour coconut milk over layers. Then spread icing and sprinkle coconut until layers and sides are covered.

Mom Feezor’s Red-Velvet Cake Recipe

When my friend Nichole at Little Brown Pen wrote about her discovery and new love for the very southern White Lily Flour, I popped her an email to tell her to keep some left over so she could make my mom's unbelievable Red-Velvet Cake recipe. And she did--see her version in cupcake form here (gorgeous!).

This cake is a beloved tradition in my family, particularly around the holidays. We CRAVE it; both my brothers even request it for their birthday cakes each year (that's what I get for not living near home...). I asked my mom about the recipe, which is more than 60 years old. Here's what she had to say:

"When I was growing up, this cake was always a special Christmas treat made by Edna Shuping, a friend of my mother and dad's. After I got married, I decided that I wanted to learn to make it myself (especially since I always loved to bake). I wanted to have it as a tradition in our family as well, so my mom got the recipe from Edna for me and the rest is history."

"I really like the flavor and the color--don’t be intimidated by the amount of red food coloring, as it simply helps create the very lush red. It’s also one of the few cakes you put vinegar in; it counteracts the cocoa and the buttermilk. They all work well together."

And here's the bonus: "I love sharing the recipe. That’s what cooking’s all about."

That said, here you go folks. Enjoy! (And thanks, Mom...)

RED VELVET CAKE RECIPMOM FEEZOR'S ASTONISHING RED-VELVET CAKE

1 cup Crisco                                           1 ½ cup sugar

2 eggs                                                      2 oz red food coloring

1 tsp vanilla                                            1 tsp soda

2 tbsp cocoa                                           1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk                                    2 ¼ cups cake flour

1 tsp vinegar

Cream shortening. Add sugar, eggs, food coloring and vanilla; cream again. Sift flour and add other dry ingredients. Sift again. Combine with sugar mixture along with buttermilk and vinegar. Bake in 3 greased and floured 9" pans for 20 minutes at 350˚.

When cake is cool, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

 CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 lb package confectioners sugar                  8 oz softened cream cheese

1 stick margarine (softened)                           1 tsp almond flavoring

Combine butter, cream cheese and almond flavoring. Cream well. Add confectioners sugar gradually. If mixture is too thick, add a small amount of milk.

Just a little slice

Here are some pics from my trip home to visit my family. Collectively, we now may be around 62 pounds heavier. But that simply means there's more of us to love.