Dreaming of coconut cake

It’s almost March, which means it’s almost time to make my annual version of Food & Wine’s Six-Layer Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Filling.

I start looking forward to this cake sometime in February, after all of the holiday gluttony has passed and I have had my fill of the dark chocolate my husband and I typically exchange for Valentine’s day.

My coconut cake typically features a mere four layers. I also use a different recipe for the cake than Food and Wine. Mine uses cake flour (resulting in a lighter-texture cake) and light coconut milk.

Since I haven’t been able to find passion fruit puree, I have tried several types of fruit filling—from peach puree to Valencia orange—all of which have been fantastic. The cake is slathered with a cream frosting and forgivingly coated with toasted coconut.

I can hardly wait for the first bite.