Additional Information for Old Fashioned Southern Coconut Cake

This recipe for the Queen of Southern cakes has been in my family for more than 100 years. It was always among the many delicious home made dishes on the tables at Thomas/Hodges family reunions. My grandmother  always made it for me on my birthday, and as I will be 75 years old this year, I wanted to share it on my blog. Her mother used to make it for her, and my grandmother would be 130 years old. I thought this recipe was lost forever, but my cousin and her mother still make it, and were kind enough to share it with me. Thank you Billie and littlecousin!
This cake is made with FRESH coconut! To prepare coconut,  punch holes in the three "eyes" on top of nut, drain juice into a bowl.  Using the eyes as the north pole, take a hammer, and hit the nut all around the "equator", it will crack open.  Place nut upside down on a cookie sheet.  Bake in 350* oven for 15 minutes.  Let it cool, and remove from shell, break in pieces with a hammer, and trim off brown skin.  After skin is removed, grate coconut.  It is a lot of work, but worth it.

Ingredients:
1 C. butter
2 C. sugar
3 C. all-purpose flour (White Lily or Martha White)
4 eggs (room temp.)
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
¾ C. whole milk

Instructions:
Cream together: butter and eggs, adding eggs 1 at a time. Alternately add flour and milk, starting and ending with flour. Makes 3 layers. Bake at 325* for 20-30 minutes. Do not overcook.

Coconut "Icing" for 3 layers  (more like a thin glaze)
Ingredients:
1 ½ C. sugar
½ C. milk
½ stick butter
¾ C. fresh coconut juice (juice is the liquid inside the nut. It becomes milk when mixed with coconut.
2 C fresh grated coconut (approximately)
Reserve remaining coconut juice

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients, except coconut, together in large sauce pan. Bring to boil and cook about 1-2 min. Let cool a bit. Brush layers with reserved juice, then spoon icing on layers, adding fresh grated coconut on each layer. The sides of the cake are not "iced".  Today, this would be called a naked cake. Let cake stand in cold room overnight to soak, wrap in foil paper and refrigerate.  It tastes better when it has chilled a couple of days.