Coconut-Lemon Poppyseed Cake

I transferred to another store and do not have any baking days yet.  They need a properly trained baker, but I'm not about to make waves with the new boss.  I'm letting his boss do that for me.

As a result, I'm not getting as much exercise, and really need to cut down on my intake.  Instead, I keep baking.  Maybe it's withdrawal from not baking at work.  Everyone there thinks I'm awesome because I keep bringing in goodies.

Undecided at the market, I bought both prune and poppy fillings.  I made the prune at Purim and had the poppy staring at me when I ran out of the fruitcake that I made for breakfasts on my vacation.  Half the can became more hamantaschen, while I jazzed up the Solo recipe to do this cake.

This is a modified version of a half-recipe of Solo's poppyseed cake recipe.  It has more wet ingredients and significantly less fat, despite the addition of shaved coconut.  Not sure what it does to the calorie count, but I'm guessing not much.  As for yield, the extra volume of the ingredients made a bigger difference than I thought.  It made two very large mini-loaves.  I would make this in a full loaf pan next time, which would result in a slightly small loaf that cooked more evenly.

1/4 C unsalted butter, softened
*1/4 C light cream cheese
3/4 C sugar
2 eggs, separated
1/2 C poppyseed filling
1 5.5 to 6 oz cup of plain nonfat Greek yogurt
2 Tb lemon juice, divided
1/4 C unsweetened coconut flakes, plus more for decorating
1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/3 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 C+ powdered sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 350º and grease a standard loaf pan or 6" round cake pan.

2.  In a stand mixer with the paddle, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in poppy filling.  Beat in egg yolks.  Add vanilla, 1 Tb lemon juice, coconut flakes, and yogurt and beat until well mixed.

3.  Separately, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  With the mixer on low, slowly add to wet ingredients until just mixed.

4.  In a separate bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks.  Fold into batter until combined.  Spread batter in loaf pan and bake until the cake passes the toothpick test, about 45 minutes.  Start checking after 40 and in 5 minute increments.  Cool in pan 10 minutes before turning out to a rack to cool completely.

5.  To make the glaze, add powdered sugar to remaining 1 Tb of lemon juice.  It helps to step away for several minutes and let the lemon juice hydrate the sugar without intervention.  Drizzle glaze over cooled cake and sprinkle with additional coconut.  Keeps at room temperature about 2 days, in the fridge for 5.  Or, you can pre-slice the cake, wrap it in plastic then foil, and freeze for up to a month.  Just pull out slices as needed.

Serves about 8

Difficulty rating :)