This gorgeous coconut cake is easy to make and absolutely loaded with flavor. It's sure to be a hit at your next party!
Honestly, I love a coconut layer cake any time of the year but I particularly love them during the holiday season. There is something so magical about coconut during the holidays.
Personally, I'm not a big layer cake kind of person. Not that I don't love them. I enjoy eating them and I appreciate how gorgeous they are.
However, I am not a patient person. So, taking the time to make all the layer and then stack all the layers perfectly is just too tedious for me. Occasionally I make an exception and whip up a fabulous layer cake.
For this one, I threw caution to the wind and went for it. The layers aren't necessarily perfect but it turned out pretty awesome, if I do say so myself!
This coconut cake would also be lovely with toasted coconut. Again, I'm not very patient so waiting for coconut to toast perfectly is not going to happen on a regular basis. So, plain shredded coconut is what I used.
If I'm being honest, I think it was the right choice, especially for serving this during the holidays. There is something so elegant about a white cake for Christmas.
Whether you make this for someone special for their birthday, or if you make it for the holidays, your guests will love it.
Honestly, if I can make it anyone can. Seriously, I'm not a master cake maker. You will rarely layer cakes on my blog. So, I am not kidding when I say "if I can make it, anyone can make it".
Honestly, a monkey could make this cake. Although I'm sure he'd prefer banana cake.
More Dessert Recipes:
- B52 Layer Cake
- Polish Paczki
- Mini Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
- Pretty in Pink Cupcakes
- Trix Ice Cream Cake
- Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake
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Coconut Cake
Ingredients
For the Coconut Layer Cake:
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups coconut milk
For the Coconut Cream Frosting:
- ½ cup butter softened
- ⅓ cup coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 5 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
For the topping:
- 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
Instructions
For the Coconut Layer Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray three 9-inch round baking pans with non-stick spray, then lightly flour. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is fluffy.
- Now add the egg yolks, one at a time, into the mixer, continue to mix well after each addition.
- Add the coconut extract, mix again until combined.
- In a separate medium sized bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift this twice, don't skip this step, it's worth the time it takes.
- Now gradually add the butter mixture alternating with the coconut milk, making sure you begin and end with the flour mixture. You want to mix the ingredients thoroughly.
- Now in another separate mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer on high speed until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
- Now you are going to fold that gently into the other batter, make sure you do not over-mix, nor use a mixer at this time. Folding in carefully is important.
- Spoon the batter evenly into each pan, and place them in the oven. Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes. The top should be golden, and if you insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake the toothpick should come out clean.
- Now you want to carefully remove the cakes from the oven. Allow to cool in the pans for about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack, and continue to cool completely.
- Once cooled you can slice each cake layer in half horizontally. Set them aside while you prepare the frosting.
For the Coconut Cream Frosting:
- *note: I used three batches of icing for this cake because I used it for the layers. I also did a scratch coat before the final coat.*
- In a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, mix the butter, coconut milk, heavy cream, and coconut extract until creamy. Now add the confectioners' sugar gradually, mixing until smooth.
- Use this frosting to put in all your layers. So lay the first layer on a plate or cake stand, spread frosting over it evenly. Continue this process until all the layers are stacked. Coat the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting. Allow to set up.
- Now add your final coat of frosting over the whole cake. Carefully place all the coconut over the cake so the entire thing is covered.
- Place in fridge until ready to serve.
- Serve with a big old coconut loving smile!
Notes
Nutrition
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Toodles! xx
Ala
Yayy this is exactly what a coconut cake is supposed to look like--goooorgeous! I'm a fan of making cookies, cookies, cookies, in as many different varieties as I can!
Stacie
Beautiful! Cannot wait to try this!
Lisa
I love baking with the kids. They have so much fun decorating cookies. Memories to last a lifetime.
Judy G
This coconut cake looks lovely. Nice addition to my Christmas menu. Thank you
Crystal
I'll have to try the coconut cake for my kids. I make cookies, candy, cakes and pies for the holidays, but the one thing I get asked to bring over and over is all my different kinds of fudge. When the kids were little, we always baked together. Now that they are grown, they enjoy scarfing it all down and taking all the leftover goodies with them when they leave. My son even asked me to find a way to ship it to him while he is out on his ship for the Navy!
MaryLynn
COOKIES!!!
ritika
I love baking a Boozy Fruit cake.
Kim Beaulieu
I like your style.
Norma-Jean
I love to bake, period. We make an assortment of cookies, sweet breads, and hand dipped chocolates (and chocolate dipped pretzel rods!) and give the stuff away as gifts. It's fun!
Kim Beaulieu
I like the way you roll Norma-Jean. I'm with you, giving it away is just as fun as making it. It's always nice to get homemade gifts from people.
Karen
I love to bake. I just finished baking a loaf of no knead bread. This coconut cake looks lovely and delicious. I am going to bake one as soon as I get some coconut milk. Thanks for this opportunity.
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks so much Karen. I hope you love it. I heart anyone who loves to bake as much as me.
jillian
Cheesecake 🙂
Kim Beaulieu
My fave!
Amy S.
I love baking gingerbread cookies.
Kim Beaulieu
Me too Amy. One of my favourite parts of the holiday.
Diane Trudeau
It's a beautiful cake. If I had one tenth your skill, I might attempt it.
Misha
I bake many kinds of cookies to give for gifts for the holidays but my favorite ones to make are my mom;s sugar cookies and decorating them.
Annette
I love to bake Snickerdoodles during the holidays.
EL Mehdi
I love this cake, I have tried making one yesterday, but made slightly some changes, I have added some caramel to it and a little bit of strawberry cream to design it since yesterday was my girlfriend birthday.
and surprisingly, it tasted so good that we finished the whole cake on the same day
za. rizik
Excellent, super delicious cake. I prepared and cooked this cake to the "specific" instructions and it came out perfect.
Kim Beaulieu
I'm so happy to hear you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. It's much appreciated.