Ingredients
- 1 pound (7 cups) vanilla wafer cookies, broken into rough pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 12 tablespoon (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 6 tablespoon large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
Preparation
Baking Directions:
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees.
Grease a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
Process half of the cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs, about 1 minute.
Transfer the crumbs to a bowl.
Repeat with the remaining cookies.
Stir in the salt and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add one-third of the cookie crumbs followed by 1/4 cup of the milk.
Repeat with half of the remaining cookie crumbs and the remaining 1/4 cup milk, and finish with the remaining cookie crumbs.
Fold in the coconut and pecans.
Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle the batter.
Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes.
Run a small knife around the edge of the cake, then remove the sides of the pan.
Cool the cake on a wire rack to room temperature, 2 to 3 hours, before serving.
