Coconut-Cherry Cake with Black Sesame Buttercream

[nverland]

Coconut-Cherry Cake with Black Sesame Buttercream
Makes 1 (6 inch) cake

Ingredients:
Cherry-coconut cake:
2 1/3 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup white sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
½ cup coconut milk
½ cup whole milk
15 sweet cherries, pitted and quartered

Black sesame buttercream:
1 ½ cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/3 cup ground black sesame seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

Garnish:
Crushed freeze-dried cherries
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. For cake: Line the bottoms of three 8” cake rounds with parchment and lightly grease the sides. Set aside.
3. Place cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
4. In another mixing bowl, beat together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs, one at a time and continue to mix. Add coconut milk, vanilla and coconut extracts. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
6. Add dry ingredients and stir until mixture comes together. Stir in both milks and mix until batter is smooth.
7. Gently fold in the cherries until completely incorporated.
8. Divide mixture into prepared cake rounds and bake for 35 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
9. Allow cake to cool completely and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
10. For black sesame buttercream: Place all butter into a mixing bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Beat in black sesame grounds. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Stir vanilla extract and salt into the mixture and beat until completely incorporated and mixture is smooth.
11. To assemble: Place a thin layer of frosting over the top of two of the cake circles and stack them over one another, inverted the last cake circle (that is unfrosted). Gently frost the three tiered cake with a thin layer of frosting (the crumb coat). Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
12. Coat the cake in another layer of frosting. Top the cake with crushed freeze-dried cherries. Slice and serve.

Tips:
-you can grind sesame seeds either by hand with a mortar and pestle or by pulsing them in a food processor until they are evenly crushed.
-to get a super smooth frosted cake simple dip your offset spatula in hot water and dry with a clean dish towel; then gently touch and smooth the dimpled areas of the buttercream to smooth. Repeat until you have a smooth cake.