Coconut Cake

I know that Valentine's Day and Christmas have passed (for the time being), but I wanted to share a frugal gift idea for your special someone that is working out very well for me! (I totally stole it from MoneySavingMom, btw...)

For our anniversary in December, I printed up Clint a certificate off of Publisher that said he was entitled to one homemade dessert of his choosing, redeemable on the 28th of every month (we were married on 12/28/02) for the year 2010. This coming from a girl whose baking skills were/are limited to Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines.

So, needless to say, Clint was ecstatic about his gift and is faithful to redeem every month. I've enjoyed it to, because hey - I figured out there is a way to make cake without a box (who knew?) and am finding that while I'm fairly messy and the presentation generally leaves much to be desired, the actual taste of the dessert has prevailed and I'm actually a decent baker!

I'm also finding out that my husband has a hidden (even from himself!) love for cake. Every dessert he has requested so far has been a cake! So, my skills haven't been taken to the extreme yet, but he's a happy hubby at least one day out of the month and I'm learning to bake without a box and a tub.

The cake of his choosing for March (yes, I'm tardy on this assignment due to family stress and of course, Easter!) was a coconut cake. I took the cake recipe from Paula Deen on the Food Network website and this frosting recipe and made a triple-layer coconut filled, coconut frosted cake and the result was sloppy, but tasty. I wish I'd taken a picture of the HUMONGOUS piece he cut for himself! Sheesh. Even he couldn't finish it all.

So, all that to say, the Homemade Dessert of the Month Club was, is and will most likely continue to be a big hit in the gift area! Best part of all is that it's fairly inexpensive and it's not an item I have to find a place for and store!