Banana Coconut Cake

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
2. Cake: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together till it is light and fluffy. Add in the Large eggs one at a time, beating well in between each addition, and continue to beat till very light and fluffy. Add in buttermilk and mashed banana and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, salt, baking pwdr), then add in to batter and mix at low speed on the electric mixer till moistened. Beat one minute at medium speed, then mix in pecans and pour batter proportionately into the two prepared cake pans.
4. Bake for 25 to 35 min, till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. After removing the cakes from the oven, allow them to cold for five min, then invert onto a cooling rack. Assemble when thoroughly cooled.
5. Coconut Custard: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and cut another piece of parchment to the same size. Set both aside. Combine the coconut lowfat milk and lowfat milk and stir together. In a bowl, mix 2/3 c. of sugar with 1/3 c. cornstarch and stir with a fork till free from lumps. Mix the sugar and cornstarch together with the egg yolks and 1 c. of coconut lowfat milk mix. Whisk till smooth and set aside.
6. In a heavy saucepan, bring the remaining coconut lowfat milk mix to a boil. Pour it into the bowl with the egg yolk-sugar mix, whisking constantly. Return the mix to the saucepan over medium flame and continue stirring. Cook till small bubbles start to create on the surface of the custard. Remove from the heat and spread onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover the top of the custard with the other sheet of parchment to prevent a skin from forming. Cold in the refrigerator.
7. To assemble Cake: In a large bowl, gently toss banana slices with the lemon juice, and sugar. Trim the top of the first layer of cake so which the surface is level, then spread with a thin layer of custard. Place bananas completely over bottom layer, so which no cake is showing. Spread with another layer of coconut custard. Place next cake layer on top of this and spread the top generously with coconut custard. Garnish liberally with toasted coconut flakes.
8. This recipe yields 8 servings.