When I brought this cake to a last-minute dinner, my hosts, Mary and Marshall Cunningham, loved it so much they begged me to take the remainder home. “Don’t leave it here,” they pleaded. “We’ll eat it. We’ll probably eat it for breakfast.” A simple vanilla cake with a layer of tart Key lime curd and a blanket of lightly sweetened whipped cream, Mary dubbed it “the perfect cake for spring or summer.”

　　

Ingredients

serves 8

　　

Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

　　2 cups granulated sugar

　　4 large eggs

　　2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

　　2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

　　1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

　　1 teaspoon vanilla extract

　　1 cup whole milk

　　

Filling

1 cup granulated sugar

　　3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

　　1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

　　1/4 cup water

　　1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1 medium orange)

　　1/2 cup freshly squeezed Key lime juice (about 8 Key limes)

　　3 large egg yolks

　　2 tablespoons grated Key lime zest (preferably organic)

　　

Frosting

4 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled

　　1 cup sifted powdered sugar

　　3 to 4 cups flaked unsweetened coconut, for decorating

　　1 lime, sliced, for decorating

　　

Step 1

TO MAKE THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, grease with butter or cooking spray, dust the pan with flour, and knock out the excess.

　　

Step 2

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the 2 cups granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Beat until the batter is fluffy, an additional 2 minutes. In a bowl, stir together the 2 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the vanilla into the milk. Add the flour and milk mixtures in alternating batches, beginning and ending with flour. After each addition, mix on low speed just until the batter is smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then unmold on a wire rack to cool completely.

　　

Step 3

TO MAKE THE FILLING: Stir together the 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the 1/4 cup water and the orange and lime juices. Cook over medium heat until the mixture boils. Remove from the heat and pour 1/4 cup of the hot mixture into a heatproof glass measuring cup. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the 1/4 cup hot juice mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. (This tempers the egg yolks, preventing them from curdling.) In a slow, steady stream, pour the egg-juice mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining juice mixture, whisking constantly. Set the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking constantly until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Pour the filling into a bowl, stir in the lime zest, and cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap directly touches the curd at all points, sealing out any air. Refrigerate until cool.

　　

Step 4

TO MAKE THE FROSTING: Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Whip in the powdered sugar.

　　

Step 5

TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE: Gently fold 1 cup of the whipped cream frosting into the cooled lime filling. Halve the cooled cake crosswise to make 2 layers. Place the bottom layer on a serving plate. Spread the filling over almost to the outer edge; top with the second layer and frost all over with the remaining whipped cream. Decorate with coconut and lime slices.

　　

do it early

Step 6

Bake the cake layer in advance, wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, and refrigerate or freeze for up to 3 weeks. The filling can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated. Make the frosting and assemble the cake the day you plan to serve it. If it will be more than 2 hours before serving, refrigerate until ready to serve.

　　

tips

Step 7

To make decorative lime twists, slice a lime in 8 thin crosswise rounds; for each slice, cut through the skin, stopping in the middle of each round. Use your thumb and forefinger to grasp the lime on opposing sides of the cut and twist in opposite directions. “Stand” the lime circles, cut side down, on top of the cake.

　　

Step 8

To toast the coconut: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the coconut in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until lightly golden around the edges, about 6 minutes.

　　Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved.A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café.  Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.