toasted coconut heaven

We celebrated a 60th birthday tonight and I made a dessert that is reminiscent of the famed coconut cake of Orchids at the Halekulani in Honolulu.

Exceptional praise from foodie family member in Hawaii had prompted me to search online and see if this recipe had been requested. Apparently it has, and so much so that you can have have it made, frozen, and fedexed to you if you can't make it to the islands to satisfy your sweet tooth.

I haven't been lucky enough to sample the original yet, but it sounds wonderful: angel food layered with a vanilla coconut custard all surrounded by whipped cream and more coconut. I like my coconut toasted, so mine looks pretty different from the snowy white version that accompanies the recipe details on the Honolulu Star-Bulletin page:

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2003/03/26/features/request.html