Halloween/Birthday precursor

As I was going through some photos from last year's Halloween carving expedition (and thinking about what to create for this year's front porch display) I came upon a pleasant discovery... a pumpkin paired seductively with a Coconut Cake!  And what a lovely pair they make, the soft, delicate white of the coconut frosting contrasting with the angry kitten face (a pumpkin painted with black floral spray).  There is an old legend about the angry kitten and the coconut cake...they only come out on Halloween night, when the moon is full and only between 11 and 11:15pm.  They just sit on the porch, staring at and taunting people who are dieting.  Luckily I managed to snap this rare photo taken on a cloudy afternoon, discreetly hiding behind a screen made of palm fronds and using cat-nip as my bait...


Q:  What do these two things really have to do with each other you might ask???  
A:  Lisa's birthday on the first of November!

In the midst of the "spooky" season ramp-up it always comes as a suprise to me that my friend Lisa's birthday is right on its coat tails.  I had the fortune of being asked to make a cake for her and felt it only appropriate to deck it out in virginal white coconut shavings as she is saintly and pure as the driven snow...unless she is watching a football game of course, then that's another story entirely.  Remembering her fondness for coconut, this cake seemed very appropriate. This auspicious occasion was also a chance to oven-roast some coconuts which I had never tried before.  Actually, I believe I conned Brian into helping me with that part, particularly the cracking the shell open portion of the process which was quite difficult and did lead to a bloody finger and a near emergency room visit if I recall...but we just passed it off as food coloring.  It gave a certain piquant aftertaste (kidding, it is almost Halloween after all).

I don't happen to have a photo of the cake when it was lit with a large number of flaming candles, but needless to say it looked like we presented Lisa with a fire-bomb instead of dessert (not giving away ages here, don't panic).  She wasn't necessarily appreciative of seeing a forest fire on a platter in her living room, but I'll bet she won't forget that cake!  The heat, like a blow-torch, melting the coconut frosting and further toasting the coconut shavings was a site to behold.

I love to Treat friends with a dessert, whether it's a birthday or Halloween.  A flaming pastry always puts a smile on everyone's face.  The Trick is keeping your eyebrows.  Happy early Halloween everyone!!!