Zucchini Coconut Layer Cake

This has now become my new favorite cake. And it's not even chocolate!  It starts with a cake mix (my latest craze) and you just bump it up from there. I could literally just eat this icing out of a bowl.  It's a marshmallow icing which is my favorite. It makes so much icing that I have a chocolate cake in the oven since I need to use up the rest of it!  But really.....this cake is just the best I've had in a very long time. The recipe comes from Woman's World.

We survived Hurrican Irene with hardly any real damage in the northern Virginia area.  We're very lucky. I had been down in Richmond on Saturday and made the (dumb) decision to drive back up to northern Virginia since it wasn't really "that bad." Well, down there it was way worse than here.  I was greeted on the highway with a huge fallen tree across all three lanes.....then on the next highway that I needed to get on to the first thing I saw was a car turned upside down. That's when my heart started to race and I even thought of pulling off I-95 and staying in a motel for the night. But I just slowed down and took my time getting back home. There were numerous cars that spun out. I guess from traveling too fast. But I made it back safe and swore NEVER again to when there is a chance of a hurricane ahead.  Stupid...stupid.....

Anyhow, here is this simple, fantastic and easy recipe. Oh and a tip.....I don't care to have any kind of green color from the zucchini skin to be seen in the cake. This type of cake, in my humble opinion just looks so much prettier if you peel the zucchini which is what I did. But that's just my opinion here!

Cake

1 package (18.25 oz) French vanilla cake mix (couldn't find French vanilla here so I used just a yellow mix)
3 eggs

1 cup water

1/3 cup oil
2 medium zucchini, 14 oz., grated, 2 cups
1/2 tsp coconut extract (my addition)
Frosting

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 container (16 oz) Marshmallow Fluff
2 1/2 cups confectioners's sugar
2 tsp coconut extract
1 tsp vanilla extract (preferably clear)
2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat 2 (8") round cake pans with cooking spray.  On medium speed, beat together cake mix, eggs, 1 cup water and oil (and extract, if using).  Stir in zucchini.  Evenly divide between pans.  Bake 28-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool on rack 20 minutes.  Transfer from pans to racks; cool completely, 30 minutes.

Meanwhile on medium speed, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add Fluff; beat until combined.  On low, gradually beat in sugar, then coconut and vanilla extracts.

Place one cake layer on serving plate; spread with 1 cup frosting.  Top with remaining layer.  Spread cake top and side with remaining frosting.  Press coconut  onto side of cake.  If not serving immediately, refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.