Fresh coconut worth the effort for special holiday cake

Over the years I've baked my share of lamb cakes. You know the type I'm talking about: heavy pound cake adorned with jelly beans, sweetened coconut and sometimes a plastic head plopped on the caky body.

This year I'm giving the lamb a much-needed spring break and breathing fresh inspiration into Easter dessert. I want to lighten the holiday cake and showcase natural flavors.

I took inspiration from an old-fashion Southern recipe of feather-light white cake layers and billowy sweet frosting stacked high on a platter. Coconut gently perfumes the dessert while tenderizing the crumb.

Looking over vintage recipes for coconut cake, I got the impression that achieving the signature light texture would be the challenge. Boy was I wrong. The challenge came from the signature flavor.

One of the interesting aspects about baking from vintage cookbooks is often the recipe calls for an ingredient not currently available or commonly used. The old-fashion coconut cake recipes, for example, call for fresh coconut, not the packaged sweetened variety so popular today.

Knowing that sweetened coconut would contribute more sugar than the original recipe writers had in mind, I embraced the concept of fresh grated coconut. In addition to naturally nutty flesh, fresh coconut provides liquid or milk also on the ingredient list.

I started this recipe working on the fresh coconut first. My usual grocery store carried something labeled "E-Z" break coconut. It had been years since I cracked a fresh coconut and everything seemed familiar except the groove scored around the equator of each coconut.

The vintage recipe instructs cooks to drain and bake the coconuts before removing the shell. In contrast, the E-Z break label only advised cracking along the grove. I tried both methods and found the older advice worked beautifully. The steam from baking cracked the shell and enhanced the nutty flavor.

One issue nagged me about those scored coconuts. Could those marks be an avenue for mold to enter and spoil the flesh? You bet.

Half the coconuts I opened were spoiled. After many trips to the store I learned some tips for purchasing fresh coconuts. First, look for larger coconuts free of cracks. Shake and listen for liquid inside.

If you buy an E-Z coconut, look for a sell by date or ask for a fresher coconut. For the best selection, try a specialty produce or ethnic store.

My husband took an unusual interest in testing coconuts, grabbing his drill for creating drain holes, a hammer to crack the shell and a screw driver to pry it open. We had fun together, and it really was easier than it sounds. Filling and frosting the layers with a simple seven-minute frosting created a cake that resembles a white mountain.

Fresh shredded coconut added a festive touch, perfect for an Easter dessert. Serve thin slices of this rich, moist cake with a few colorful jelly beans on the plate and you won't miss lamb cake for long.

• Annie Overboe, a Culinary Institute of America graduate, lives in Villa Park. Send questions to Baking Secrets, Daily Herald Food section, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or food@dailyherald.com. Questions will not be responded to personally.