Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This was a cake that my mother made often, yet it always felt like a special treat. It is a four egg cake, somewhat dense, but moist and delicious. For some reason it reminds me of Spring, which is why I am posting it now.

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup shortening (I use butter)
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch oblong cake pan. Cream together shortening (or butter) and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and add a little at a time to creamed mixture, alternating with milk. Mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:
2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 small bag coconut

Cream together the cream cheese and butter until well blended and very creamy. Add vanilla and mix it in. Then gradually add the confectioners' sugar. When the cake is cool, frost with the cream cheese frosting and then sprinkle a small bag of coconut on top of the frosting.

Refrigerate any leftover cake.