Coconut Cream Cheese Cake

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This is my new favorite cake! It is so refreshing and has a unique flavor that you don't find in a lot of desserts. It is sooo easy, too. You can make it in a 9x13, too, if you don't want to bother with presentation. I served this at my girlfriend's wedding shower and it was perfect!

{What you need}

2 cups white sugar

1 cup butter

5 eggs

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 cups flaked coconut

{frosting}

1/2 cup butter
2, 8 oz packages cream cheese

1 teaspoon coconut extract

2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round cake pans, set aside. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beat well. Mix in coconut flavoring. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, mixing well with each addition. Fold in 1 cup coconut. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Cool completely once baked. (I put it in the freezer for a few hours)

While it is baking, cream powdered sugar and butter, adding in the rest of the frosting ingredients after. Tear off 4 thin strips of foil or waxed paper and place them around the edges of a cake stand. Once the cakes are cooled completely, remove and place one on the foiled cake stand, making sure that the foil covers all parts of the stand. Frost the top of the cake on the stand and place the other on top. Frost the rest of the cake, all sides covered. Sprinkle the remaining coconut on the top and sides of the frosted cake, covering as much as you'd like.
Remove the foil and reveal a beautifully clean cake stand with a gorgeous cake on it, with no frosting smudges on the stand! It looks amazing and tastes even better! Such a classy dessert, great for showers or parties. Let me know what you think!