I love coconut cake. It’s perfect year-round. And yet it’s so indulgent it’s often reserved for special occasions. Let me tell you I can whip up coconut macaroons at a moment’s notice. But a coconut cake? That requires a little forethought.
I haven’t made this cake in well over ten years. But I recently did make it for a special occasion. And I realized something. While it does require a little forethought, each step itself is not complicated. There are some steps, like toasting sugar, that are a bit extra. Frankly, you can skip that. But also any leftover toasted sugar can be put to use in my morning chai. And that nutty caramel flavor is a welcome addition.
Still, I baked and assembled this beauty in one day. But you can easily make it over a couple of days. I am surprised at the ease of it. And I plan to make this more than once every decade.
Steps You Can Do in Advance
Toasting the Sugar
As I said, this is a somewhat tedious process. It’s supposed to help with bringing the Swiss meringue together. And if you do opt to toast your sugar, it can be done well in advance. And you can store it in your pantry as you would untoasted sugar.
Toasting the Coconut Flakes
For optimal results, I would suggest doing this no more than two days before the final assembly.
Sour Cream Filling
I would, again, suggest no more than two days before the final assembly.
Cake Layers
You can bake and freeze the cakes for up to 3 months. Just be sure to thaw in the refrigerator for a day before assembling and serving.
Assembly of the Cake
You can easily layer the cake with the sour cream filling and keep it in the refrigerator for a day before frosting.
Coconut Cake
INGREDIENTS
For the Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup butter - softened to room temp
- ½ cup canola oil
- 1½ cups sugar
- 4 large eggs - room temp
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1¼ cups coconut milk
For the Filling
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 tbsp coconut milk
- ½ cup sweetened coconut flakes
For the Swiss Meringue Icing
- 2 large egg whites
- 3 oz sugar - can be toasted
- 1 pinch salt - kosher or sea salt
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- ½ tsp vanilla - optional
To Guild the Lily
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes - toasted
METHOD
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Grease two deep 9-inch round cake pans and line with parchment
- Cream together the butter, canola oil, and sugar until well-combined
- Add eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition
- Stir in the vanilla
- In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt
- Alternately add the flour mixture and coconut milk to the wet ingredients. Stir gently by hand after each addition, starting and ending with flour.
- Evenly divide batter into cake pans.
- Bake 30-35 minutes
- Cool in pan 10-15 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack until completely cool.
To Guild the Lily
- Heat oven to 200°F
- Spread sweetened coconut flakes onto baking sheet in one even layer
- Place in oven and stir every 10-15 minutes until golden brown
For the Filling
- Mix together the sugar, sour cream, milk, and sweetened coconut flakes until well-combined
For the Swiss Meringue Icing
- Whisk the egg whites, sugar, salt, cream of tartar over a double-boiler. Once the mixture looks homogenous (or reaches 175°F) move off heat.
- Whisk on high until glossy (about 5 minutes)
Assembly
- Once the cake layers have cooled, poke holes into the layers - spacing about 2 inches apart
- Place the bottom cake layer onto a cake stand and place parchment between the cake edge and cake stand.
- Pour half the sour cream filling over the bottom cake layer
- Place the second cake layer on top and spread the remaining filling over the top layer
- Refrigerate the cake for at least one hour. This will allow the cake to firm and be more sturdy for the icing process.
- Using a bench scraper or offset spatula ice cake with swiss meringue
- Gently press coconut flakes around the circumference of the cake
- Sprinkle remaining coconut flakes around the top edge of the cake
