Emily Dickinson's "Cocoanut Cake"

53.

GOD gave a loaf to every bird,
But just a crumb to me;
I dare not eat it, though I starve,—
My poignant luxury
To own it, touch it, prove the feat
That made the pellet mine,—
Too happy in my sparrow chance
For ampler coveting.
It might be famine all around,
I could not miss an ear,
Such plenty smiles upon my board,
My garner shows so fair.
I wonder how the rich may feel,—
An Indiaman—an Earl?
I deem that I with but a crumb
Am sovereign of them all.

April is National Poetry Month. Although this post comes at the end of the month, it doesn't hurt to end with a bang. I was inspired by an article that I read in NPR a few months ago about Emily Dickinson. We're all well aware of her poetic prowess, but apparently she was also a proficient baker (actually, although no one knew about her poetry in her lifetime, she was well known in Amherst for her breads and cakes, going so far as to lower baskets of gingerbread from the second-story window in her house to neighborhood children). One of her handwritten recipes - for "cocoanut cake" - was put on display in New York recently. I'm nowhere near there, but thanks to the power of the internet, I can access and share a copy:

In honor of Poetry Month, my goal was to remain as close to Emily Dickinson's original as possible. This meant using simple traditional ingredients and mixing everything by hand, which is well worth the effort - but quite a workout if you're a runner like me with no upper body strength. As long as the butter has had time to soften, this task is definitely doable. Although the recipe itself doesn't call for icing, a simple boiled icing was common for cakes of the era; my only change was to add lime juice and some lime zest for extra flavor (I used granulated sugar, which made delicious icing, but was a little grainy in texture, so I'd recommend powdered sugar instead). The icing made way more than I needed for a single loaf, which sounds like a good reason to make two loaves' worth next time! The cake is deliciously moist and fluffy, although it's also dense (much like a pound cake). The cake itself has a nice subtle sweetness, and the lime icing adds a nice sweet tang to it. Turns out it's not just Emily Dickinson's poetry that I enjoy!

Ingredients

Coconut Cake:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup grated coconut*

Lime Boiled Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice + 1 Tbsp water

1 egg white

2 tsp freshly grated lime zest

Directions

For Cake:

1.  Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add milk and mix well.

3. Sift together flour and baking powder, then add in portions to the wet ingredients, stirring just until combined.

4. Gently fold coconut into batter, stirring just until mixed.

5. Pour batter into a lightly greased and floured 9x5" loaf pan.

6. Bake at 325 degrees F for 50-60 min, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool for ~10 min, then turn cake out onto a wire rack and let cool for 10-15 min more before applying icing.

For Icing:

1. Stir together sugar and lime juice/water in a small saucepan. Gently boil while stirring frequently (stirring is key - sugar can easily burn!).

2. Meanwhile, beat egg white in a small mixing bowl until soft peaks form.

3. Once sugar mixture has formed a thick syrup, pour over egg white and beat until cool.

4. Stir in lime zest, then use to ice cake.

*This is the one place where I did cheat; if you don't want to take the time to grate a fresh coconut, simply add warm water to unsweetened dried coconut and allow to rehydrate for 15-20 min, then drain excess water before adding coconut to batter.