Coconut Cream Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
COCONUT CREAM CAKE:
Wet Ingredients:
1 c. butter, softened
1¾ c. white sugar
1 c. cream of coconut (Coco Lopez is the one I used.. it can be found by the drink mixers at your grocery store)
4 large eggs
Dry Ingredients:
2½ c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
Additional ingredients:
1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. coconut extract

COCONUT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
½ c. butter, softened
8 oz. block cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. coconut extract
1 bag powdered sugar
milk (as needed)
Toasted Coconut* (see below)

Method:

1. For the Cake: Separate eggs, set whites aside. Beat wet ingredients together including egg yolks until fluffy. Sift dry ingredients together and stir well. Add dry ingredients to wet using mixer on low speed alternating with buttermilk/extract mixture.
2. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Fold egg whites into batter. Bake at 275-degrees in two 9-inch pans (sprayed with baking spray and floured or what works BEST is lining the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper) for about 90 minutes (it seems they finish much nicer in the lower heat). After about 60 minutes, do the “toothpick test”, repeating every 5-10 min or so until the toothpick comes out clean. After cake is out of the oven and transferred to parchment paper or a cooling rack, poke each cake with a few holes (making sure not to poke all the way through) and drizzle remaining coconut cream over (about ½ c. total). This is optional and just keeps the cake extra moist. After the cake cools, transfer to the freezer and freeze overnight.
3. Frost immediately (see frosting recipe below) after removing from the freezer. Allow to thaw for about an hour before serving. If you want to do a layered cake, put a layer of frosting in-between the two cakes and then continue to frost the remainder of the cake. Sprinkle with lightly toasted, shredded coconut (see below).
4. For the Frosting: Beat butter, cream cheese, and coconut extract together, adding powdered sugar little by little until reaching desired consistency. If it seems to get too stiff, add about 1 tsp of milk at a time until you get the consistency you want. (add milk to thin it out, add powdered sugar to thicken it up).
5. Toasted Coconut: Place contents of about ½ bag of sweetened, shredded coconut on a cookie sheet. Spread it out so it makes just a single layer. Bake for appx. 8-10 minutes in a 325-degree oven. Some pieces will still be white and soft, some browned slightly with a little crunch.