Put the Lime in the Coconut

A few weeks ago, I bought sour cream to make Homemade Hostess Cupcakes. I had some left over because, as you may remember, I did not make as many Disaster Cakes as previously planned. I awoke this morning to find the biological clock on my sour cream rapidly ticking. I had already decided to make My Baking Addiction's Lime Coconut Sour Cream Bundt Cake - in fact, I had purchased a bundt pan (and new cooling racks!) for just this occasion thanks to a fabulous BB&B coupon.

This was my first coffee cake, and my first time making anything in a bundt pan, so I was a little nervous. I forgot to take pictures throughout the baking process, but I am proud to announce that the end result was delicious! I learned a few things from this experience: First, zesting limes takes longer than you think it will, so you should probably do it first so you're not waiting around for them. Second, there is a clear, marked difference between the standard store brand pan and a Calphalon pan. I decided to spend the extra dollars to get the Calphalon bundt pan and it was worth it. The nonstick coating is really wonderful; the burnt-on, caked-on scrapings from my spatula around the top of the pan came off with practically no effort. Anyway, just buy the nicer pan. It's worth it.

My only alterations to the recipe were that I used regular, non-organic, full-dairy sour cream (because that's what I had on hand) and I was short on limes, so I used the zest of about 2 1/4 limes for the cake and the zest of about 3/4 limes for the glaze & went a little short on the powdered sugar to balance out the flavor. For an extra punch of lime, I squeezed the juice of about half a lime into the cake batter. I think it was a nice touch.

Lime Coconut Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• Zest of 3 medium limes
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sweetened, flaked coconut

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch bundt pan. Like I said before, with the nonstick pan, this is much less of a scary step - I just used the papers from the butter and an extra spritz of Canola Oil spray. I didn't flour it because, well, because I tried it and it looked like it wasn't going to work.

With a hand mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. If you are blessed enough to own a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, use the paddle attachment.

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and lime zest, mixing together with your fingertips until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. Add the sugar mixture gradually into the butter and beat until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla. This is also when I added in the extra lime juice.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add flour mixture, alternating with sour cream, into the butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Fold in coconut.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula or knife.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (my oven is super hot so I baked mine for about 45).

Cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack. Invert cake onto wire rack; gently remove pan (again, the nonstick is wonderful here). Cool completely.

Meanwhile...

Lime Glaze

Ingredients

• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 5 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 medium lime

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add more cream one tablespoon at a time. I think I added an extra tablespoon and a half.

Spoon over cooled cake.

Coffee cake success! It's moist and fluffy with just the right amount of crumb. I recommend eating it with a fork. I especially love the mixture of summery, tropical flavors - it's a cake that manages to be light and refreshing!

Are you playing with any fun flavors this summer?