Cards

Some of the earliest coconut cakes were called “white mountain” cakes.

More than 20 billion coconuts are harvested each year, mostly in the Philippines, India and Indonesia.

Traditionally in Thailand, a baby’s first bite of solid food is the custard-like flesh of a young coconut, fed to it by a Buddhist priest.

Although coconuts contain saturated fats, their unique architecture means they are more easily used by the body.

Locations: A diner somewhere near Atlanta; Whole Foods (Atlanta, Georgia)

Alton receives some help from cake historian Nancie McDermott in this episode.

This episode marks a transition to prime time for Good Eats: it moves from Wednesdays at 10:00pm (for new episodes) to Mondays at 8:00pm.

Alton: Ah, coconut cake. A perfect gestalt of southern sensibility and south seas sensation. Moist... fragrant... an infused foundation to frosting with tropical goodness. This is my desert island dessert.

Elderly Diner Patron: Sonny, you know what I always say? The past tasted better than the future.

Alton: I’ve taken all I can take and I cans’t take no more! It may take some research, a little experimentation and a lot of coconut, but I will find a way to revive the legend of the cake lady’s work, and produce a coconut cake that’s honest to goodness... (Good Eats theme plays)

Alton: (about preparing coconut meat) A box grater is certainly the traditional way to go, but man, does that take a long time. Small rasp style graters are certainly no better; they take even longer. Then, there’s the food processor – my particular choice for this. Just use your grating disk and whale away on it.

Alton: (answering a knock at his door) What’s this? A note? From the cake lady! She wants... a meeting!

Alton: I’m not trying to steal your recipes, okay? I just... I need a little guidance...
Cake Lady: Then look to the coconut.
Alton: Look to the coconut. Look, I’ve already shredded about a thousand pounds of coconut.
Cake Lady: Silly little man! You think that’s all there is to it?? To make a true coconut cake you must extract the essence of the pod... infuse it’s life into the cake... milk it for all it’s worth!
Alton: Milk it... like you’re milking this dialogue...

Alton: Our two cake layers look good, but come on: what self-respecting layer cake would only have two layers. Clearly we need to split this, and it’s a tough job to do free hand, so I’ve kind of made myself a guide, here. I’ve got a half sheet pan and I put a cooking rack in the bottom turned upside down to get the cake up to where it’s kind of sticking halfway up from the edge. Now, for splitting, I used to use a bow saw blade from the hardware store, but it’s a little on the wobbly side, so I graduated to something a little more adult... (Alton withdraws a long knife from its storage slot.) Serrated cake knife!! A thousand and one uses! You can carve up a turkey, you can slice a roast or disassemble a loaf of bread or perhaps a home invader! Ha ha ha ha!!

Waitress: Mr. Brown, ever since we put your cake on the menu, folks have just gone crazy! They don’t even mind paying a little extra money. So you’re going to have to go ahead and make three extra a week!
Alton: (dismayed) Three extra? A week?
Elderly Patron: Reckon now you know why old timers only made it on special occasions...

Served an inferior coconut cake, Alton claims he’s “taken all he can take, and he cans’t take no more!” This is a line from the old Popeye the Sailor cartoons. Debuting in 1929 and popularized by the Fleischer studios in the 1930s, Popeye and his supporting cast have spawned numerous animated features, comic books, and even a live action movie.