Louisiana Crunch Cake

The Best Louisiana Crunch Cake Ever ~ Ingredients: 3 cups cake flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup butter, softened 4 large eggs, room temperature 1/4 cup sour cream 1 cup buttermilk 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Sift together cake flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Set aside.

3. In a large separate bowl, beat butter until very fluffy (approx. 5 minuets) then add 2 cups of sugar. Continue to beat until light and fluffy (approx. 2 more minutes).

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, making sure that each egg is thoroughly blended before adding the next egg.

5. Mix in sour cream and vanilla extract.

6. Blend in some of the dry ingredients followed by some of the buttermilk in alternates. This is a way to ensure that the ingredients are being thoroughly blended together -- For example; add dry mixture followed by buttermilk, dry mixture, buttermilk dry mixture -- so on and so forth -- DO NOT OVER BEAT OTHERWISE CAKE WILL BECOME HARD AS A BRICK ONCE FINISHED BAKING!

7. Grease a bundt cake pan. I used a non stick angle food spring formed tube pan. If you do not have a non stick pan, be sure to grease your pan and dust with flour! Add in 1/4 cup of sugar to the bottom of pan and about 3 inches up the sides, tapping the pan to ensure even distribution. Leave excess sugar in pan. Sprinkle coconut flakes to the bottom of the pan. Scrape batter into the bundt pan and spread evenly.

8. Bake for about 50 minutes to an hour or until a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean (if it comes out wet, bake another 10 minutes or so, if it comes out crumbly, you over baked the cake).

9. Let cake cool for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove from pan, making sure that the sugary coconut side is faced upward. Use a knife to scrape the sides if cake becomes stuck. (this step is very important otherwise your cake will continue to bake and will become very dry and completely stuck in the pan).

10. Drizzle glaze over the crunchy top portion of cake.

Vanilla Almond Glaze: 2 cups confectioners' sugar 1/4 cup butter, melted 1/4 cup evaporated milk 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon almond extract In a medium sized bowl mix all ingredients together until smooth. Add more milk for desired consistency. You may also use regular milk, but I must say that evaporated milk gives a WAY better taste! Drizzle over desired desserts. Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/the-best-louisiana-crunch-cake-ever-443401/photo?oc=linkback