Coconut Layer Cake
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- 2sticks/226 grams unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
- 2cups/265 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
- ½teaspoon/3 grams fine sea salt
- 2teaspoons/10 grams baking powder
- ¾cup/140 grams granulated sugar
- 3eggs, separated, plus 3 whites
- 1½cups/355 milliliters sweetened cream of coconut, such as Coco Lopez
- 1¼cups/295 milliliters unsweetened coconut milk
- 2tablespoons/30 milliliters coconut or dark rum
- 7tablespoons/104 milliliters freshly squeezed orange juice
- 3cups/370 grams unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2sticks/226 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 2cups/454 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2teaspoons/10 milliliters vanilla extract
- 7¼cups/2 pounds/907 grams confectioners’ sugar
- 2¾cups/340 grams unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut, toasted
For the Cake
For the Frosting
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
1598 calories; 102 grams fat; 76 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 167 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 133 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 404 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
Make the Cake
- Step 1
Grease 3 8-inch cake pans and dust with flour. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 2
Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and reserve. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add 3 egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl with spatula. Lower speed and gradually add flour mixture. Batter will be thick and pasty.
- Step 3
Whisk together cream of coconut, coconut milk, rum and orange juice. Alternately add shredded coconut and the orange juice mixture to the batter.
- Step 4
In the clean bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip 6 egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold into batter.
- Step 5
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Cool in pans on wire rack. Unmold cakes once cool.
Make the Frosting
- Step 6
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla extract. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, scraping down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix until combined and fluffy.
- Step 7
Spread ¼-inch-thick layer of frosting on top of the first layer of cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Place next cake layer on top and repeat with frosting and coconut. Repeat with the third layer, spreading frosting on top and around sides of cake. Hold cake steadily in one hand and use other hand to pat remaining coconut onto edges of cake.
Private Notes
Comments
Despite trawling through and cooking from a couple of dozen food-related sites and blogs weekly, I've never taken the time to write a single comment. Until now. I made this cake for a dear friend's birthday whose mother used to make him a coconut cake every year until she passed away 25 years ago. He tasted this and nearly cried with joy. "I didn't think I'd ever taste a cake again that I liked as much as mom's. This one surpasses it." Home run.
Can this just be simply adjusted to two 9 inch layers, rather than 3 8 inch pans, for those of us who just have sets of 2 pans rather than 3?
If you are having 20+ people for Easter, and have out of town houseguests, and your husband is in the clergy, and you sing in the choir, and it is 1 am on Easter and you are finishing the icing and questioning your life choices and wondering whether this cake is worth it, it TOTALLY is. And I'm not just saying that because I gave up sweets for Lent; this is without a doubt one of the best cakes I have ever made. Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe!
I just made this for mom's 89th birthday - she loves a good coconut cake. This version is a labor of love - many hours until frosted and in the fridge. AND it is TERRIFIC! For frosting I used goat cheese instead of cream cheese, otherwise followed recipe exactly. Everyone wanted more!
The cake is amazing, but... Maybe I'm out of practice. The icing gave me a really hard time. It was too loose (I think). I couldn't get it to coat evenly. The layers slid out of alignment. The icing on the sides and between the layers slumped to the bottom. Next time -- and it will be back by popular demand -- I will chill the icing. I will also put less of it between layers. If that doesn't work, I will find a different icing recipe.
Cooling the icing worked for me. I did four layers and started having the same problem with layers sliding about. I put icing and partially frosted cake in fridge to solidify a bit. Then I could easily even the frosting and keep it all aligned and smooth. And the toasted coconut covers any less than perfect results with final frosting.
Made this cake for a family birthday party and made 1 modification. I pulled some of my lemon curd from the freezer and smeared the layers before icing. It worked very well and I think, was a good addition. The cake was a hit.