Coconut Candy Cane Cake

For our Christmas Day dessert I made us this candy cane coconut cake inspired by an ad for Durkee Coconut seen in Ladies' Home Journal 1956. 

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I used an oblong glass baking dish and carved the cake into the cane shape.  This made for lots of cake scraps which equals 'snacks' while I ice the cake.  To make the red coconut I used wilton red gel dye with a bit of water added to it and put into a plastic lidded tupperware-ish container (those round plastic "disposable" tall soup containers from Chinese take out) along with the coconut.  Give it enough shakes to distribute the red.  I made my coconut the day before because sometimes food dyes will darken more in time.  I also toasted the coconut slightly to dry it out.  Before putting the coconut on the cake I iced it with alternating red and white stripes of frosting.

I don't know if these instructions make sense.  Over the past 48 hours I have only had about 5 hours sleep, ya'll women out there know what I'm talking about.  Christmas Eve and Day we are on double time.  I am ready to settle my brain for a long winter's nap!