twd ~ Apple-Coconut Family Cake

I can hardly believe - it's my turn to pick! After a little more than two years, I'm happy to still be baking along with all the other twd bakers and have a reason to make a new delicious dessert every week!

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As found in Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours:

Apple-Coconut Family Cake

The tastes in this light, moist cake are coconut, a hint of cinnamon and the sweetness of apples, all of which put you in mind of early fall. Our friend Michael Vogel aptly calls it a "family" cake.

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
3 apples (I use Golden Delicious), peeled and cored
2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup plain yogurt
6 tablespoons flavorless oil, such as canola or grapeseed
1 tablespoon dark rum
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup shredded coconut, preferably unsweetened
About 1/2 cup apple jelly, for glaze

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Cut 2 of the apples into a small dice, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. Cut the third apple from blossom to stem into slices about 1/4 inch thick; cover.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and 1/2 cup of the sugar together for a minute. Whisk in the yorut, oil, rum and vanilla and whisk for about a minute, until smooth. Still using the wisk, or switching to a rubber spatual, fold in the flourt mixture, followed by the coconut and the diced apple.

Scrape the batter into the pan and jiggle the pan from side to side a couple of times to even the batter. Arrange the sliced apples in an attractive pattern over the top of the cake - I like to make a sunburst pattern - and sprinkle the apples with the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the apples and cake are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the springform pan to a rack, and cool the cake for 20 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, make the glaze. Warm the apple jelly with a splash of water just until it liquefies.

Once the cake has cooled for 20 minutes, run a knife around the edges of the cake and release the sides of the pan. Using a pastry bursh, give the top of the cake a generaous gloss of glaze.

Makes 8 servings.
Serving: The cake can be served warm or at room temperature. While it is great as is, it's scrumptious with a little whipped cream.
Storing: This cake is a good keeper. Wrapped well, it will keep at room temperature for about 4 days. Because of the apples and glaze, it isn't a good candidate for freezing.

Playing Around:Coconut-Nut Family Cake
Keep the coconut in the cake, but add 1/2 cup ground pecans or walnuts and an equal amount of the same nut, finely chopped. This double-nut cake is just as good made with slices of pineapple or pears as it is with apples.
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I tried to make this by sticking to the recipe. I managed to do mostly that. I used coconut rum instead of dark rum because that's what I had. For some strange reason, the store didn't have apple jelly so I used raspberry. It made the cake a nice red color - very festive for the Christmas season!

Saturday I ran my first marathon. Afterwards, I was ready for a little cake on Sunday and this was perfect.