34. Hundred Dollar Cake or Coconut Wedding Cake

INGREDIENTS:

For Cake:
Nonstick cooking spray with flour (Baker's Joy)
1 pound unsalted butter, preferably European style
3 cups white sugar
6 large eggs
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp coconut extract
For Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 cups confectioner's sugar
1 vanilla bean, scraped (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

For Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray two 10 inch round cake pans with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5 to 6 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until creamy, occasionally scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula.
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, mix together cream, vanilla, and coconut extract. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture, alternating with cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour, beat until just combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before removing cakes from pans.

For Frosting:
1. Place butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat until creamy.
2. With mixer on low speed, slowly add vanilla extract, seeds from vanilla bean, and confectioner's sugar. Continue beating until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.


DIRECTIONS: