Orange Coconut Cake

This cake can be AMAZING with a few adjustments: I combined this with a few recipes that I translated from Portuguese because my husband is from Brazil and it is his FAVORITE I use 2 cups of flour at most. It can get very floury...only 2 cups of sugar instead of 2 and a 1/2, and I add a few drops of vanilla essence to make up for the difference. I like to bake it in two 8 inch round cake pans and poke each layer as a separate cake with a separate topping for layering afterwards. THE KEY IS IN THE MILK MIXTURE: Do not use any regular milk at all! Instead go to a store and buy "condensed milk" or "leite condensado" in the international section of the grocery store. It is much thicker and stickier and will not make your cake so soggy!!!! Mix this with 1/2 the can of coconut milk and it will be enough for two 8 inch rounds for sure. Lastly, be sure to use either fresh coconut shavings or sweetened shavings. The smushier the flakes the better. My husband and all of his Brazilian friends say I make this cake just like it's made by the Brazilian Bakeries and their own Mom's- Give it a shot!!!  -  23 Dec 2008  (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)

2/08/2008 4 stars The flavor of this cake is very good but it seems to be there is too much flour. I used only 2 1/2 cups flour and the pastry was heavy. When the cake was done, it has too heavy texture. I used only 1/2 milk mixture because the cake wasn`t be able to absorb all the mixture. Finally, the cake wasn`t moist at the bottom and in the middle. I will definitely make this cake again but with other amount of flour.***UPDATE***I have made this cake for 2 times now with modifications and it turned out fantastic. I used only 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 cup flour and 1,5 cup sugar. The texture was great and fluffy and absorbed the liquid perfectly. As to the milk mixture I followed Tara`s recommendations and used can of sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 can coconut milk. Very good and very delicious cake.  -  02 Sep 2008  (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)

Great recipe! Everyone loves it. As suggested by some reviewers, I cut the flour down to 1 3/4 cups, and cut the sugar down to 1 1/3 cup. Also added a few drops of vanilla. For the topping, don't use any milk - 1 can of condensed sweetened milk and 1 can of coconut milk is all you need (will be enough for 2 cakes)  -  02 Feb 2011  (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)