Piña Colada Cake

 It's Mother's Day tomorrow and I am running around trying to get things together for the arrival of my in-laws. When I went to the ABC store (the state-run booze vendor), I told the check out lady that I was buying a fifth of coconut rum for my mother in-law's Mother's Day cake, which *hopefully* will go well with the Thai-themed meal. She suggested that I double (or triple) the alcohol content to help me get through tomorrow, which was  an odd suggestion because (1) I'm obviously pregnant and (2) my in-laws are delightful, non-intrusive people. (Although I did consider upping the alcohol content because there are no teetotalers in our family!)

This recipe came from a really neat cookbook called "Booze Cakes" that I borrowed from Jennifer. It has lots of fun stuff, like cocktail cakes, cake shots (I am bringing these to a party after bebeh is born so I can partake too), classic booze cakes, and homemade booze recipes. If you buy it, make sure to try the Lane Cake. Jennifer made it for Easter and it was amazing.

Ingredients

Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup coconut rum
1/2 cup sweetened cream of coconut
4 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream

Frosting

2 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sweetened cream of coconut
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut rum
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Finishing

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained well (I used the back of a spoon to squeeze out more liquid, which was a mistake. Just set in a strainer for 10 minutes.)
1 (10-oz) package sweetened flaked coconut, toasted (I only had 7 oz, which was plenty)
A few maraschino cherries

Directions

1- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans
2 - In a mixing bowl beat butter, sugar, coconut rum, and cream of coconut (for the cake) 3-5 minutes or until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together milk and sour cream. Mix in the flour and milk mixtures in three alternating additions.
3 - Pour batter into pans and bake 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of each pan comes out clean. (I cooked my cakes for 10 extra minutes.) Let cool.
4 - While cakes are baking, beat together cream cheese, butter, cream of coconut, vanilla, and coconut rum until light and fluffy. Beat in confectioners' sugar. Refrigerate until cakes are cooled. (If you don't refrigerate, it will be too runny to frost.)
5 - Place one cake layer on a serving plate and top with frosting. Add the crushed pineapple and half the toasted coconut. Place second cake layer on top. Spread the rest of the frosting over the cake and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.