Torta Al Cocco (Coconut Cake)

 Wow it has been a long time since I have written a post, but I have a great excuse...  I was in  Italy for a month for my 1 year wedding anniversary/ spending time with family.  My husband and I traveled to Capri, Florence, Chianti, Venice, Rome, and finally the village that my mom is from, Carpinone, which is in the region of Molise.  We had a fantastic time and I am full of authentic new Italian recipes to share with all of you!  The first one I am going to share is a recipe form my friend who lives across the street from my mom's house, Giovanna's Torta al Cocco which translates into coconut cake.  It is a deliciously moist cake made with coconut and then topped with nutella and coconut flakes!  Since I was watching her make the cake, I was unable to do my usual step by step photos that I usually do, but I do have a video of Giovanna making the cake, along with a photo I took of it from her cook book (No worries I promise to have an English copy for you too ;)  I had a ton of fun learning from Giovanna and having her as a friend to spend time with during my time in Italy and I will truly miss her until the next time I go back!

Giovanna and I at my nonna's house my last night in Italy

Ingredients:

* 4 eggs

* 1 cup of Flour

* 3 cups of grated coconut (you can just put shredded coconut into the food processor to grate it)

* 1/2 cup of sugar

* 1/2 cup of 2% or whole milk

* 1/2 cup of vegetable oil

* 1 tsp. of Baking Powder

* 1/2 tsp. of vanilla (In Italy Lievito is baking powder with vanilla in it already, so we can just add a little)

Procedure:

* Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees 

* Beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer

* Add the Milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla and mix well again.

* Add the coconut, flour, and baking powder and mix all ingredients until well blended together

* In a tort pan, like the one in the video or a 9x9 baking dish, spray very well with baking spray

* Pour batter into the pan

* Bake at 350 degrees fpr 25-30 minutes until lightly golden brown and a toothpick comes out dry

* Carefully flip cake upside down onto a serving platter

* Once cool, spread Nutella on top and sprinkle grated coconut all over the top (flakes are fine too)

Enjoy!