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1
Preheat the oven to 350u00b0F Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
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2
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and 2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy.
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3
In a separate bowl, mix together the coconut milk and vanilla. Add half of the milk mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until well blended.
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4
Into another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
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5
Add the sifted mixture to the butter mixture and stir well. Thoroughly mix in the remaining milk mixture. The batter will be very heavy.
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6
Using an electric mixer with clean, dry beaters and a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the beaten whites into the batter until no trace of white remains.
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7
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until the tip of a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
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8
While the cake is baking, make the lemon curd. In the saucepan, whisk together the lemon peel, juice, sugar, and eggs.
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9
On medium heat, cook the mixture, whisking constantly until the curd thickens, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat.
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10
For a perfectly smooth curd, pour the curd through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the lemon peel and any bits of egg (I always do this, because there are always little egg bits in the curd).
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11
Whisk in the butter a little at a time.
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12
Refrigerate the curd until well-chilled, about an hour.
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13
When the cake is cooled, spread half of the lemon curd between the two layers.
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14
Whip the cream until stiff and stir in the remaining lemon curd. Spread the whipped lemon cream over the cake and chill well.
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15
Serve sprinkled with toasted coconut flakes.
