It's Cake Time!

I tried to put together a few things to celebrate Miggity's 30th b'day this past Saturday. I found a great looking shirt at Kohl's and then I had reservations for dinner at Tillman's Roadhouse in Oak Cliff. I also toiled on a lovely coconut cake from scratch for 2 hours before we left for dinner. So, the food at Tillman's was awesome. Creative, tasty and simple. You can read an in-depth review on my food blog (www.dfwfoodies.blogspot.com). Though the food was great, the acoustics made everyone's voices resound and super loud. We were also squeezed between two couples newly dating and felt the pressure to keep up with their chattering lol. However, it was still good and we rushed back home to finish up the vanilla buttercream for the cake. Some of our friends came over with board games in hand. We played pink the donkey (which was fun) and a new board game. And then comes the cake... it was good. I usually never like the first time I eat my own cake. But since I am writing this the next day, I can honestly say, it was good 'cause I just ate two slices! :-) It wasn't as rich with icing or flavour of coconut, so I think I can go heavier on both next time. But, it certainly had the pinnings of a good coconut cake. Then we all stepped out for a half hour and went to Trinity Hall for Miggity's free yearly drink courtesy of Dave and Spencer. We came back tired and Miggity said he'd sleep over. But 5 minutes into getting into bed he looks over and pouts and says, "I'm sorry baby, the cars are driving me crazy." Of course, my heart broke a bit 'cause he never stays over. And after all that effort, it would have been nice to get some together time in return. What is it about falling asleep next to someone you care about? Maybe it's the quiet hum of safety and security that women like when the man sleeps over. It sure isn't some huge declaration of love because it's not like people snuggle the entire time! And we certainly are not snugglers. So, he left and I went back to bed and a few tears came rolling down. But it wasn't accompanied with the rush of intense emotions. It was more subtle, and so much nicer really lol. Anyway, so on that note, here is the cake (recipe from Williams Sonoma "Cake" book).
DO NOT use the vanilla buttercream recipe in it... it was a disaster.

Cake: 2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut milk (you can add a bit extra if you want since this is really light)
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup shredded coconut
Vanilla Buttercream Icing: 3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 round cake pans with parchment.
Mix flour, salt, baking powder and set aside.
In another bowl, combine coconut milk and vanilla essence and set aside.
Using a mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar till mixture is pale and fluffy.
Add eggs one by one. Add dry mixture in 3 batches to this on medium-low, alternating with coconut milk mixture in 2 batches (Start with dry and end with dry and beat until just combined).
Pour batter into pans and stick in for 25 minutes.
For the frosting, beat together sugar and butter for 3 minutes. Add vanilla essence and whipping cream for one more minute. Voila!