Coconut Cream Cake Has Kept Them Happy for 3 Generations

“This recipe is at least 60 years old,” Rosemary Adam writes. “It was my mother’s first cake. It still works. My mother lives in Bangor, Me. At first she was the only one who prepared the recipe. Now three generations, my own daughter included, prepare Coconut Cream Cake.”

COCONUT CREAM CAKE

4 eggs, separated

3 tablespoons cold water

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon extract

3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream Filling

3/4 cup shredded coconut

In bowl, beat egg yolks with cold water until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating until very pale. Add lemon extract and beat 2 minutes.

Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Add to egg mixture and mix lightly.

Beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold beaten egg whites into yolk batter. Turn into 3 wax-paper-lined (9-inch) round cake layer pans and bake at 350 degrees 10 to 15 minutes.

Cool on rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely. Spread Cream Filling between cake layers and over top and sides. Sprinkle with shredded coconut. Brown lightly in broiler. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Cream Filling

2 1/4 cups milk

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour

3 eggs, separated

3 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

Heat milk in top of double boiler over simmering water. Mix sugar, salt and flour. Stir mixture slowly into milk until smooth. Cook and stir 10 minutes.

Beat egg yolks until light. Add to milk mixture. Cook and stir 3 minutes and remove from heat. Beat in butter and vanilla. Cool.

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into custard mixture until smooth.

- ROSEMARY ADAM

Claremont

The Times pays $10 for readers’ recipes published. Send an unusual and unpublished recipe to My Best Recipe, Food section, The Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053. Write how you got the recipe, how you use it, and include name, telephone number and address. Recipes become the property of the Times and will not be returned. Allow three weeks for payment after publication.