COCONUT LEMON LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
• With an electric mixer, cream the butter and 2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the coconut milk and vanilla. Add half of the milk mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until well blended.
• Into another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Add the sifted mixture to the butter mixture and stir well. Thoroughly mix in the remaining milk mixture. The batter will be very heavy.
• Using an electric mixer with clean, dry beaters and a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the beaten whites into the batter until no trace of white remains.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until the tip of a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
• While the cake is baking, make the lemon curd. In the saucepan, whisk together the lemon peel, juice, sugar, and eggs.
• On medium heat, cook the mixture, whisking constantly until the curd thickens, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• For a perfectly smooth curd, pour the curd through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the lemon peel and any bits of egg (I always do this, because there are always little egg bits in the curd).
• Whisk in the butter a little at a time.
• Refrigerate the curd until well-chilled, about an hour.
• When the cake is cooled, spread half of the lemon curd between the two layers.
• Whip the cream until stiff and stir in the remaining lemon curd. Spread the whipped lemon cream over the cake and chill well.
• Serve sprinkled with toasted coconut flakes.