Coconut Cake

Ingredients

Three and one-half cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
Three-fourths cup vegetable shortening
6 large egg whites
1 large coconut, broken (reserve one and one-half cups coconut juice adding whole milk if necessary to make one and one-half cups
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Grate the coconut meat and reserve

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 9-inch-round layer cake pans.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl, cream together the sugar and shortening. Add the egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk, beating until the batter is smooth. Stir in the vanilla and 1 cup grated coconut. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes, then turn onto wire racks. Cool the cake completely then assemble and ice with Coconut Cake Icing.