SERVES 8 TO 10
SKILL LEVEL: EASY
COOK TIME: 1 HR. 10 MINS.
PREP TIME: 10 MINS.
COST: $
For pure knockout flavor, nothing on this whole planet gets my vote like this cake. My grandmother made it every year at Christmas. I do the same. It is worth every calorie—and there are plenty of them, so don’t make it every day as my Chew family took great delight in pointing out:
Clinton said, “When you give this as a gift, you’re basically saying, ‘Here’s 5 pounds right on the belly.’ ”
And Michael chimed in, “You may think you’re giving the gift of love, but what you are really giving is a gym membership.”
Oh, well, I guess it was National Pile on the Health Guru Day. I don’t mind. If you can’t tease your family, then who can you tease? I look at this cake as a gift of love. How many gifts do you give that end up cluttering the closet a year later? This one gets eaten in a day. It rings all the bells: it’s appreciated, it brings back warm memories of childhood, and—here’s the kicker—it’s eighty-five cents a serving.
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
4 eggs
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1 cup pecans, chopped
½ cup water
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup sugar
Powdered sugar, for dusting
1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and butter and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, until combined.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, in three parts to the batter and mix gently, until just moistened. Stir in the coconut and pecans. Pour the batter into a pound cake mold. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Five minutes before the cake is finished baking, make the glaze. Combine the water, butter, and sugar in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes.
6. Slowly pour half the syrup over the cake, invert the cake onto a serving plate, and pour the remaining syrup over the top. Dust with powdered sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes, and eat warm!