Gluten-Free Coconut Cake

This recipe is adapted, very distantly now, from the Ukranian Poppy Seed Cake recipe in Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook. It makes a relatively dense, buttery cake with a subtly Indian bent. The cake is not as dark as pictured.

3/4 cup dried sweetened coconut
1 1/3 c. milk
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup rice flour
1/3 c. potato flour
2 T. corn starch
1 T. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cardamom
1/2 t. coconut essence
3 T. fresh-squeezed lime juice

1. Place coconut and milk in a small saucepan and scald (heat to just before boiling and turn off). (I’m not sure if this scalding step is necessary if you are using coconut instead of poppyseeds, but I haven’t tried it yet). Let cool at least 15 minutes.
2. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
3. Sift together dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture, alternating with the coconut/milk mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir as little as possible, and add coconut essence and lime juice at the end.
4. Spread the batter into a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until done, i.e. top springs back to the touch, and toothpick comes out dry. Cool for 10 minutes and then invert.

I topped this cake with seaons fruits and coated lightly with a syrup made by mixing 1 part jam with one part water and a little sugar, heated until sugar dissolves. If you’d like to use regular white flour, you can substitute 2 cups white flour for the rice, potato, and cornstarch flours.