A friend called me this week with news of a terrible tragedy in her life. She’s too far away for me to dash over and help so I sent a card immediately and of course since I can be there to give her a hug I’m making her one. This is Trellis from the current Interweave Knits in her favorite color- Frog Tree fingering on size 4 needles.

Daniel loves to watch Ham on the Street on the Food Network. Recently there was an episode where George Duran cooks all sorts of food on a stick. Daniel decided I needed to make him shrimp on a stick. Cornshrimps to be more specific. We’ve often done our own corn dogs so I simply used the same batter recipe and dunked the shrimp in, frying them up minus the sticks.

Cornshrimps

1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
canola oil, for frying

Pat shrimp dry with a paper towel.  Set aside. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and dry mustard, mixing well. Combine egg, milk, and oil and mix with a fork. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Mix in shrimp.

Heat a couple inches of canola oil in a deep saucepan until a bit of batter dropped in cooks quickly. Using a spoon, scoop out a shrimp with a bit of batter, enough to cover, and drop into the hot oil. Fry a few  at a time in a large skillet turning a few times. Check the first one to be sure it’s cooked all the way through- the bit right in the center where the shrimp is curled is hard to get done all the way. Use the first one to gauge cooking time.

I’ve also been baking today. This is a coconut cake for a party I’m going to tomorrow.

Coconut Cake

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened grated coconut
2 1/2 cups cake flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
pinch salt
1 cup coconut water (substitute or bring up to 1 cup with milk)
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar for 3 or 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Mix in the coconut. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add liquid and dry ingredients alternately until they are all incorporated. Whip the egg whites in a separate bowl with cream of tartar to stiff but not dry peaks. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter and then fold in the remainder very gently but thoroughly. Divide batter evenly between the two pans. Bake at 350 F. 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool ten minutes in pans and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups unsweetened grated coconut

Whisk together sugar, water, cream of tartar and corn syrup in the bowl of a mixer over a small saucepan with an inch or two of boiling water. Whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved, transfer the bowl to the mixer. With the mixer running at high speed, add the two egg whites and beat for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Use this to frost and fill cake and then coat with the grated coconut.