every morning now the first thing we do is go out in the snow to check for fresh eggies! the most we’ve gotten in a day is two so far, so i haven’t started blanketing the town in meringue yet. and we’re still sticking to basic modes of preparing them, like scrambling and boiling, just so we can enjoy the newness of this pure eggie perfection before we start scotching them and deviling them and just generally going nuts on them with mayo and the like. my snapchat has become the egg show.

(come play on snapchat! i am molly.yeh over there!)

one macaroni laid an egg in her poop but for the most part they've been really good about going in their little nesting boxes. oh gosh, i just had a thought, i hope our eggs continue to be this tasty because now with all the snow on the ground, foraging around the yard is going to be way more difficult for macaroni. oof. can any chicken parents out there advise on this?

in other news, happy week-before-christmas! if you are not up to your eyeballs in cookie swaps and gingerbread houses and candy canes yet, you're doing it wrong. (right?) so here's some more sugar to add to the madness. it's got coconut coming at it from every possible angle in every possible form by way of coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut flavor oil, shredded coconut, and king arthur flour's sparkly heavenly coconut sugar. it's delightfully dense and magically moist and unlike most of the big honkin 8" cakes that i typically make, this guy is scaled down slightly to a 6" cake to allow for fewer leftovers to be added to the holiday sugar pile. yippee!

coconut cake

makes one 3-layer 6-inch cake

ingredients

cake:

1 c sugar
1 1/4 c king arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 large egg
1 c coconut milk
1 tb lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 tsp coconut flavor oil
1/4 c coconut oil, melted but not hot

frosting:

1 c unsalted butter, softened
2 c confectioners'  sugar
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 tsp coconut flavor oil

assembly:

4 oz unsweetened shredded coconut
marzipan kneaded with green food coloring
sparkly coconut sugar

clues

cake:

preheat the oven to 350ºf. grease and line the bottoms of three 6-inch cake pans and set aside.
in a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. in a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the egg, coconut milk, lemon juice, vanilla, coconut flavor oil, and coconut oil. add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
pour the batter into the cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at 22 minutes.
let cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

frosting:

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until creamy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and beat to combine. Beat in the salt, vanilla, and coconut flavor oil.

assembly:

Stack up the cake layers with a layer of frosting in between and frost all over. Place the cake on a rimmed baking sheet and cover it all over with coconut. Shape cones out of the green marzipan to make the trees and roll in the sparkly coconut sugar. Stick em on top and enjoy!

i used the following king arthur flour products in this recipe: all-purpose flour, vanilla bean paste, shredded coconut, coconut flavor oil, marzipan, and heavenly coconut sugar. thank you so much, king arthur flour, for sponsoring this post!

-yeh!