Coconut Cake: Baby No Sleepy

First, thanks to Tori for choosing this month's Have the Cake recipe! I've always wanted to make a coconut cake, as they are so lovely and delicious, but I've never been brave enough. For some reason, I imagined this recipe would be much more complicated.

Second, despite the relative simplicity of the cake and frosting recipe, Piper has been reluctant to sleep this month. Yesterday I tried to fit too many things in during the day. Since my girls' night out started at 4:30, I was planning to frost the cake during Piper's afternoon nap. She cut said nap short - sleeping only about 30 minutes - and was incredibly cranky (the photo was taken this morning). So, I had to entertain her, then feed her, then hand her to my long-suffering husband who should have been working, toast the coconut, whip the icing, and try to slap the whole thing on the cake before running out of the house. Needless to say, the cake doesn't look as pretty as it could have.

For my recipe, I turned again to my trusty Pie in the Sky cookbook, using the 7,000 ft. version. The cake is a basic 1-2-3-4 cake, with coconut icing and topped with toasted coconut. Some friends are coming up tonight for dinner and dessert, so I hope it tastes good!