Coconut Cake
Clouds of fluffy meringue frosting cover this traditional Southern cake. Coconut milk, combined with vanilla and almond extracts make this rich butter cake a memorable dessert.
Recipe type: Dessert | Butter Layer Cake
Serves: 10 to 12
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two 9" Round Layers Pan Prep: Greased and Floured Oven Temp: 350° Storage: Covered, Room Temperature
Help: Cake Hints and Tips
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accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
Help: Cake Hints and Tips
TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast,
accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.Ingredients
Batter:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1½ teaspoons pure almond extract
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup shredded or flaked sweetened coconut
Seven Minute Frosting:
- 3 large egg whites
- 1½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1 cup shredded or flaked sweetened coconut
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 9-inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the pans with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust the pan with flour.
Batter:
- In a medium mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir the coconut milk, vanilla extract and almond extract together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 8 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale yellow color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
- With the mixer on low speed, add about one third of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add about one half of the coconut milk mixture, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and continue alternating with the flour mixture and coconut milk mixture, ending with the last portion of the flour, and stirring just until blended. Gently fold the coconut into the batter.
- Bake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
Seven Minute Frosting:
- In top of a double boiler, combine egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, and water. Beat on high speed 1 minute with an electric hand mixer. Place pan over simmering water (the upper pan should not touch the water.) Cook, beating constantly with mixer on high speed about seven minutes or until stiff peaks form. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat 2 to 3 minutes longer or until frosting is thick. Using an offset spatula, spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. Tip: Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a simmer. Place a copper, stainless steel, ceramic, or glass bowl on top of the simmering water, the upper pan should not touch the water.
Topping:
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with coconut and lightly press more coconut onto the sides.