"Happy Bastille Day!" - "Joyeux Quatorze Juillet!"

Why don´t you celebrate this years “Bastille Day" -  "Quatorze Juillet " with a wonderful Coconut Cake with Berries and Cream, similar to a Tres Leches Cake but with a coconutty twist – it is a wonderful cake to celebrate the French National Holiday on the Fourteenth of July!

I found this recipe in the July 2012 edition of Martha Stewart Living. It was featured as part of the Fourth of July celebration menu but I thought it would be just as fitting for a French Fourteenth of July celebration menu. Whatever day you celebrate, this cake is an absolute winner!

Coconut Cake with Berries and Cream
(as adapted from Martha Stewart Living, July 2012)

Ingredients for the Cake

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for pans
6 eggs (L), separated (organic or free range, if possible)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup superfine sugar
1 package of pure vanilla sugar or 2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup flaked unsweetened coconut, toasted and finely ground
1 cup AP flour, divided
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 can (13.75 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
3 cups mixed fresh berries (I used blueberries, strawberries and raspberries but blackberries or other fruit would be just as delightful)

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and generously butter a 9-by-13-inch glass baking pan.
2. Whisk together the egg whites, baking soda, and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium speed, until soft peaks form, four to five minutes.
3. Add the egg yolks to the egg-white mixture, and whisk until completely combined.
4. Gradually add sugar, vanilla sugar (or extract) and whisk until combined.
5. Fold in the melted butter and the finely ground coconut with a large rubber spatula.
6. Sift 1/4 cup flour onto the mixture and fold to combine. Repeat with the remaining flour, folding in 1/4 cup at a time.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared glass baking pan and bake the cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, whisk together one cup of heavy cream, the coconut milk, and the condensed milk.
9. As soon as the cake is removed from the oven, pour the cream mixture over the cake.
10. Let the cake cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
11. Cover the cooled cake with some plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least five hours and up to eight hours (I found five hours to be quite sufficient).

Serving

Just before serving, whisk the remaining cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form, and spread over the cake. Serve with mixed berries, some on top, the rest on the side.

"Happy Bastille Day!" -  "Joyeux Quatorze Juillet!"