This year, Mother’s Day was extra special for my family. Not only did we honor Mom with presents and cake, we also celebrated her strength in facing cancer for a third time. Every day when I talk to her on the phone, I am amazed. She is such an inspiration to me and to her friends who also suffer from cancer.

For our Mother’s Day celebration, held at my sister’s house, I was in charge of salad and dessert. I chose the spring spinach salad that ran in the April 2009 edition of The Erickson Tribune as well as here on the blog. For dessert, I was inspired by this song:

Put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up
You put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up
You put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up
You put the lime in the coconut and call the doctor woke him up
I said Doctor! Is there nothing I can take
I said Doctor! To relieve this bellyache
I said Doctor! Is there nothing I can take
I said Doctor! To relieve this bellyache

You can find the rest of the lyrics here.

So I took my coconut white cake recipe, added lime buttercream icing, and topped it with shredded coconut. It was a big hit and made a happy ending to our Mother’s Day celebration.

Today, I made a mini version.

Tip: You can find mini cake pans at Target and Giant supermarkets.

Recipe: Mini coconut lime cake
Serves one to three

Cake

1 large egg whites
1/8 cup milk
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 stick butter at warm room temperature
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup sweetened flaked or shredded coconut for garnishing
Small lime wedge for garnish (optional)

Icing (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook)

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp fresh lime juice (just a small squirt)
Zest from 1/2 lime
1 to 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 4-inch round cake pans with cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat dry ingredients on low briefly to combine and break up any remaining clumps. Add butter and coconut milk, and beat on low speed just to combine. Raise the speed to medium, and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg white mixture, scraping the side of the bowl while mixing until combined. Divide the batter among the two pans. If you have extra, make a few cupcakes.

Bake for 30 minutes of until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the cakes’ centers. Allow the cakes to cool for 15 minutes before removing them from the pans and cooling them completely on a wire rack.

While cake is cooling, make icing. In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter, vanilla, lime juice, and lime zest with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Slowly add half of the powdered sugar, beating well and scraping the sides of the bowl. Then beat in the remaining powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp milk. Add more milk if needed to reach spreading consistency.

Once cakes are cool, spread icing on top and sides of one of the cakes. Sprinkle with about 1 Tbsp of the shredded coconut. Place the other cake on top of the bottom cake, and spread icing evenly over the top and sides, blending the crease between the two cakes. Sprinkle remaining coconut over top and sides. Garnish with a lime wedge.