A good coconut cake can be hard to come by. It can be too dry or undercooked. That’s one of the reasons I always say that your tester should have a few moist crumbs when it comes out of the cake. Your cake will continue to cook in the pan, before you turn it out.
One of the things I like to do is build a coconut flavor overall in the cake.I put coconut in the cake batter. I add coconut extract to the the frosting and then I coat the cake in toasted coconut. It sounds like a lot oc coconut but what it does is give you a slow build to the flavor. You definitely have coconut cake but the flavor is nice but subtle.
Coconut Cake
I created this particular recipe for my book Cake for Breakfast. I was reimagining the breakfast I eat almost every day. Coconut yogurt with granola and blueberries.
Course: Endings
Cuisine: American
Keyword: berries, cake, coconut
Cake
- 1-1/2 cups Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1-1/2 cups White Granulated Sugar
- 6 Lg. Eggs, room temperature
- 1-1/2 tsps. Pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
- 1 cup Whole Milk, room temperature
- 4 oz. Shredded Coconut
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp. Coconut Extract
- 16 oz. Confectioners' Sugar
- 6 oz. Shredded Coconut, toasted, for coating cake
Cake
Preheat oven to 350°Butter and flour 2 9" cake pans. In a stand up mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar; until light and fluffy.With mixer still running, add eggs, one at a time.Add vanilla and mix well. Scrape down sides as needed. Sift together all dry ingredients.With mixer running, on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, in three additions; alternating with whole milk. You want to start and finish with the flour.Fold in 4 ounces of shredded coconut.Divide batter, evenly, between the cake pans.Bake for 35-45 minutes until just a few moist crumbs come out on a tester.Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely, on rack.
Frosting
Cream together cream cheese and butter until well combined.Add in vanilla and coconut extracts.Slowly add in confectioners sugar and beat until smooth and thick.If it gets too thick you can some whole milk a tablespoon a time until desired consistency. Toast the 6 ounces of shredded coconut in an oven or toaster oven heated to 350°. Watch it closely. The sugar in the coconut will cause it to burn quickly. You are looking for an uneven golden color.Place about a quarter cup of the frosting on top of the bottom layer of cake, then top with other layer of cake. Frost the whole cake, thick.Pat the toasted coconut into the sides and top of the cake.
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