Mee-Mee's Famous Coconut-Pineapple Cake

Sheila Junell of Amarillo, Texas, piled on layers of flavor and won the grand prize in a Softasilk cake flour competition with this citrus-scented cake filled with pineapple, frosted with cream cheese and sprinkled with coconut. To make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 4 round 9-inch cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with waxed paper. Grease and flour the waxed paper. Drain pineapple, reserving juice for cake and frosting and reserving pineapple for filling. Beat butter in large bowl on medium speed until creamy. Gradually beat in sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir together soda and 1/3 cup of the reserved pineapple juice. With mixer on low speed, beat cake flour into butter mixture alternately with soda mixture, beginning and ending with cake flour. Beat in lemon extract and vanilla just until mixed. Pour into pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes
remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. To make the pineapple filling: Stir together sugar and cornstarch in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir in pineapple and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Cool. Place one layer on a cake plate
spread with 1/2 cup filling. Repeat with second, third and fourth layers and remaining filling, leaving 1 inch edge on top. To make the cream cheese frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese in large bowl on medium speed until blended. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough pineapple juice to make frosting spreadable. Frost sides of cake
pipe decorative border around top edge. Sprinkle coconut on sides and top border of cake. Per serving: 989 calories, 6 grams protein, 40 grams fat (percent calories from fat, 37), 156 grams carbohydrates, 96 milligrams cholesterol, 467 milligrams sodium, 2 grams fiber.