Pineapple Coconut Loaf cake

Its been a while since I baked a cake in our toaster oven. I mean, from the scratch. I wanted to make a cake which had coconut flavor in too. Searching through numerous recipes online I came across Martha Stewart's website where she bakes this cake in an interesting way. She covers the cake midway with foil to avoid the toasted coconut from over-browning. Since this was a loaf cake and I had never made a loaf cake in the oven, I decided to go for this recipe by following some of the recipe suggestions given by the reviewers who made this cake. Moreover it had a good rating.

I love Martha's website, it has lots of interesting exciting ideas related to not just food, but crafts, gardening, decorating etc which has been presented to viewers in a very nice way.

Here is the recipe:

Tools needed:
1 Loaf pan
Silicon Spatula/ Any type of Spatula
Measuring cups

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups (1 1/2 cups) sweetened shredded coconut 
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1.5 cups (1 1/2 cups) all purpose flour (make sure you use a spoon to add flour to the measuring cup rather than just scooping it with the measuring cup as it tends to prevent addition of excess flour and thereby also helps to fold in more air).
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks in juice, drained very well
• 1 teaspoon almond/vanilla extract (optional)

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Spread the coconut on a parchment paper/wax paper lined rimmed baking sheet
3. Toast the coconut for 6-10 min until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Set aside
4. Butter a 9 by 5 inch (8 cups) loaf pan. Flour lightly (if needed you line it with wax paper and do the same ). Set aside
5. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one, folding each egg before adding the next egg. Add the Almond/vanilla essence
6. Sift the all purpose flour. Fold it in three parts, along with two parts of sour cream to the egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
7. Using the spatula, fold pineapple and half the toasted coconut into the batter
8. Smooth and even the top. Sprinkle the remaining coconut on the top of the batter.
9. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes (cover the pan foil halfway through)
10. Do a toothpick test to confirm whether the cake is done

This cake can be stored at room temperature covered in plastic for 2 days. It refrigerates well too.