INGREDIENTS
4 cups
sweetened shredded coconut
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
3 cups
all-purpose flour
1 tbsp
baking powder
1/2 tsp
salt
1 1/2 sticks
unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups
sugar
2
vanilla beans, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
3
large eggs
1 cup
buttermilk
2 tsp
pure vanilla extract
Vanilla-Bean Buttercream
1
piece (10 inches) black licorice lace, cut into 40 (1/4-inch) pieces
20
whole almonds, with skins
140
red or other candy-coated licorice pastels (about 1/3 cup), or pieces of snipped red licorice laces