Coconut Layer Cake

One of my favorite Veracruzan cookbooks, cocina Veracruzana de Abolengo, has a coconut cake recipe that I just had to try. And it was fully as delicious as it sounded — except that the original had a whipped-cream filling that would not have been my first preference. I did some experimenting and found that meringue makes not only an excellent icing but a refreshingly light filling that plays against the richness of the cake layers. Remember that it will dry out quickly