We all know Emily Dickinson as an American poet but did you know she also enjoyed baking? I came across her recipe for Coconut Cake recently and had to follow up and read more on Emily Dickinson’s love of baking.

In 1845, a young Emily wrote a letter to her friend Abiah Root:

“I am going to learn to make bread to-morrow. So you may imagine me with my sleeves rolled up, mixing flour, milk, salaratus, etc., with a great deal of grace.” 

A decade later her “rye and Indian” bread won a prize at a local cattle show.

She loved to bake for her family and friends and continued even after she stopped leaving her home permanently.

She has two recipes for her Coconut Cake and here’s one below.

1 cup cocoanut

2 cups flour

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoonful soda

1 teaspoonful cream of tartar

This one makes half the rule

The original recipe did not have directions attached.

Emily Dickinson’s Coconut Cake

Adapted from a recipe in the collection of Donald and Patricia Oresman

Ingredients

½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups cake flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ cup whole milk, room temperature
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8½″ X 4½″ loaf pan with butter, line the bottom with parchment, and butter the parchment.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add the eggs and beat well.

3. Sift the cake flour together with the baking soda and cream of tartar, and whisk to blend (or substitute a scant 2 teaspoons of baking powder for the soda and cream of tartar).

4. Add half the milk to the butter-sugar mixture and stir to blend, then add half the flour mixture and mix well. Add the remaining milk and then the remaining flour, mixing briefly after each addition. Fold in the coconut.

5. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake on middle rack of oven for about 55-60 minutes, until golden around the edges and a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and let cool completely.