Fresh Coconut Cake

1 stick butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups cake flour, sifted
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 medium-sized coconut to yield 1/2 cup coconut milk
1 1/4 cups grated fresh coconut meat
4 eggs whites, stiffly beaten


Cream the butter until it is fluffy. Add the sugar in 4 parts, creaming after each addition. Add in the vanilla. Sift the flour, the baking powder, the soda, and the salt together and add them alternately to the creamed mixture with the buttermilk and the coconut milk. Add in 1/4 cup of the grated coconut. Then fold in the egg whites, gently but thoroughly. Pour the batter into greased and floured 8-inch layer cake pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Cool the layers on a cake rack and then frost them with butter frosting. After the cake is frosted, sprinkle all over it generously with the remaining cup of grated fresh coconut meat.