The Little Foodie: Coconut and Lime Pudding Cake

This cake was so hard to make.

Ha! You say. You’ve made pudding cakes and you know. They’re easy.

Well, make one with this girl:

And you’ll know what I mean. This cake took at least 5 time outs. Long ones.

I’ve been loving the blog Cooking With My Kid and I was inspired to make something with my daughter. I often involve her in the process, but I wanted her to make something with me, start to finish.

It was actually her suggestion to make a coconut and lime cake. I said, “Let’s make a cake.” She responded, “Coconut and lime?” How does she have any idea that coconut and lime go together? She’ll probably be surpassing me as a chef soon.

Pretty much the whole time we were making it I was yelling, “Stop doing that!” because she was poking various things. The egg whites, her brother…

I flipped out when she woke the baby up because it took me FOREVER to get him to go to sleep. He only wants to sleep while being held these days. I held him in the Bjorn for about an hour and I waited until he was really asleep before putting him down. While I was cleaning up the egg yolks she spilled all over the counter I looked over at them and she was mid poking him in the eye. Instant screaming all around when I grabbed her and put her in time out. I was sweating like a pig by the time we finished this cake because it was so hot and I felt like a mad scientist with the mess that was around.

My great idea for some bonding time didn’t work out so well. I have to apologize for the pictures. They’re terrible. But you understand, right?

Oh yeah, the cake. The cake turned out awesome. My girl has some good instincts. The lime was very strong, which is the way I like it. Next time, for the coconut, I’m going to add some coconut extract, because it wasn’t strong enough. The pudding layer was soft and tart and the cake part was a light almost meringue, but not eggy tasting like I was worried it would be. The three of us finished this off very quickly, even though it’s supposed to serve six. We’re a little overboard with our desserts, though.

Coconut and Lime Pudding Cake (adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Lemon Pudding Cake)

1/4 C flour
2 T cornstarch
1 1/4 C sugar (separated)
5 T butter (room temperature)
2 T lime zest
1/2 C lime juice (about 3 small limes)
5 eggs, separated
1/14 C coconut milk (room temperature)
2 quarts boiling water

Lightly oil an 8” square glass baking pan. Place a kitchen towel inside a 15x9 inch glass baking pan and nest the 8” one inside it. Turn the oven to 325 degrees and put the rack at the lowest position.
Whisk together the flour and cornstarch in a small bowl.
Beat 1/2 C sugar, butter, and zest in a bowl until fluffy (about 2 minutes)
Beat in yolks, one at a time into the butter mixture.
Reduce the mixing speed to medium low and add flour mixture. Mix until incorporated.
Slowly add coconut milk and lime juice until just combined. If using an electric mixer, put batter in another bowl and wash the mixing bowl thoroughly. (I just LOVE my juicer. A friend got it for me from a garage sale and it works like magic. I wonder if they still sell them? It’s electric and it just rotates as you press down with the fruit.)
In a clean bowl, beat egg whites on high speed for 2 minutes until there are soft peaks. While the mixer is running add sugar, slowly, and beat until firm and glossy (about 1 minute).
Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then fold the rest in one scoop at a time.
Pour batter into 8” glass pan. Place on the lowest rack, and then pour boiling water into the larger pan until it reaches half way up the sides of the cake pan.
Bake for 60 minutes. Cool one hour before eating. (remove the pan from the water bath while cooling.)