Coconut Cake//Shredded Coconut Filling//Raspberry Jam Filling//Coconut + White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
This cake is just so delicious. One of my favourite treats as a child was coconut spread, which we put on toast, and called "coconut toast spread". My elementary school friends would always try to trade their snacks with me whenever it made an appearance in my lunchbox...it was a hot commodity. Glorious stuff. And yet I feel like most people have never heard of it...until now! Enter, cake. I love to get creative in the kitchen, and the thought suddenly popped into my head one day of trying it in an icing. How could that not be the best thing ever? But not just in any icing: in Swiss Meringue Buttercream. The smoothest, most delicate of icings. Anyway, I won't tell a dramatic story. I made it, and it rocked my world. Oh, I did add in melted vanilla bean white chocolate too. Good move, Ella.
The cake part itself is one that I love to vary for different flavours—it's so soft, delicate and moist...ahh I just love it. You can also see it in action in my Earl Grey, Blueberry & Vanilla Bean Cake. That one contains no coconut extract, but rather real vanilla bean, and swaps in refined coconut oil for the neutral taste. That's a super cool creation of a cake too. I make earl grey infused butter for the buttercream, and cut it with a bit of cream cheese. I don't think I've ever seen that before...and I promise it's not like one of those weird "trying to be cool" trendy flavours that you have to pretend to like to uphold a sophisticated foodie "it" girl/guy image (ahem, hi wasabi, turmeric, and rose. We love you, but please stay out of our sweets. Also, sorry to the lovers of rose in sweets. I know some of you exist. But respectfully, ew). Anyhoo! Wonderful cake. And if you’d like to learn more about the crumb of the cake, and the rational behind the method, it’s in the forward for that recipe! Now, if you'd like to try another cake (with more conventional—albeit still exceptional—flavours) with the same base recipe, check out my Cardamom-Spiced Caramelized Pear Cake with Brown Butter Chai Buttercream. That one uses brown butter instead of plain butter, with the addition of cardamom, and the usage of vanilla extract only. That one is a project, but so worth it. Ahh, I dream of that roasted pear caramel.
Now back to this cake! It's a such joy for me to make. I love the process of making a beautiful Swiss meringue, and it's also just the silkiest buttercream to work with. It makes icing and decorating the cake a dream. I also came up with a super simple coconut filling that you just mix together with a spoon. I wanted some texture in the middle, without adding extra work (I wanted this one to not be too laborious), as well as an extra burst of flavour—paired with the sweet and tangy raspberry filling, it brings the whole thing together!
That's all for now. I'll just add as a note that I was hanging on to this recipe for months, because I made it for friends' birthdays, and as orders for customers, and so haven't had the opportunity to photograph the inside of the cake. But I've decided to be more chill about how I do things. I'll add pictures when I can make it again, in a setting that allows for that. And until then, the internet has this beauty of a recipe! I realized it was rude of me to withhold it from the world. I'm a busy teacher, and I'm going to start being less worried about how I do things. From now on, I'll post what I can, when I can, and the planet will have more yummies in it. Yay!
Recipe:
Makes 1 6-inch cake
Notes
I specify the type of salt used, as different salts are more or less salty than others. If you don’t have the same kind of salt used, be mindful of this and adjust accordingly. Generally speaking, pink Himalayan salt is less salty than most others.
Top tip for room-temperature eggs: if ever you don’t have the time to take them out of the fridge early enough, or yet if you forget, you can place them in a bowl covered with hot water for 5 minutes, and they will become room-temperature just like that!
Likewise, you can bring your cream to room temperature by lightly heating it in a saucepan.
Make sure that the bowl used for the egg whites, as well as the beaters, are perfectly clean. Even trace amounts of a fat can hinder the whites from whipping into stiff peaks.
Video link to demonstrate how to fold egg whites into cake batter, for those who haven’t done this before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfgz10xdq6k Skip to the 2 minute 45 second mark.
For those new to baking, to remove cakes from tins—place a plate on top of the top of the tin, upside down (meaning, the side that you would eat off of is facing down). Hold the plate to the tin with 2 hands, and in a swift, fluid motion, turn it upside-down. The cake should fall onto the plate. If it does not, give it a vertical shake, until this happens. You can also gently press the cake away from the sides of the tins using a butter knife. Put the now empty tin down. Place a cooling rack on top of the cake (which is now on a plate), and invert it so that it is now on the cooling rack, right-side up.
Coconut Cake
Ingredients
110 g coconut oil (measured before melting)
230 g cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 + 1/8 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
4 egg whites, room temperature
60 g butter, room temperature
330 g sugar
1 cup (250 g) full-fat cream, room temperature
3 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp coconut extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and ensure that oven rack is positioned in the middle.
Butter and flour 3 6-inch baking tins.
Melt coconut oil in a small saucepan. Pour into a small bowl to cool completely.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.
Place egg whites in a very clean medium bowl and set aside.
Place butter in a large bowl, and beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.
Add in sugar and cooled oil. Beat on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Add in coconut extract and vanilla extract. Beat on high for 30 more seconds.
Add in dry ingredients and cream, alternating in additions—do 3 rounds of dry ingredients, and 2 rounds of cream (begin and end with dry ingredients). Each addition should be fully combined on low speed. Do not over mix.
With fresh, clean beaters, beat egg whites on high speed with an electric mixer until stiff, about 2-3 minutes. If you’re not sure if your whites are stiff enough, know that you should be able to turn the bowl completely upside-down without anything budging.
Gently incorporate whites into the cake batter, using a spatula, until fully combined. [For those new to baking—see notes for a link to a video showing how to do this. That is, there’s a specific technique to it to avoid bursting the air bubbles in the whites.]
Pour batter evenly into the 3 cake tins. If you feel like being very precise, you can use a kitchen scale.
Place cake tins in the oven, and bake for 24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out virtually crumbless. If the toothpick comes out with wet batter, or many wet crumbs, let it bake for 2 more minutes.
Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, then remove from tins and let them cool completely on cooling racks.
Coconut White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Notes
Use good quality white chocolate please. My favourite is Green & Blacks vanilla bean white chocolate (it’s organic). Besides the taste, some white chocolates with weird fillers don’t melt properly.
Likewise, make sure that your coconut spread is all-natural. Try it before you use it—if it’s not a great flavour, don’t use it. And make sure it’s 100% smooth. I used Nutiva Organic Vanilla Coconut Spread (I bought it at Goodness Me), but I’m sure I’d equally love other high-quality brands. I’ll pop a link to it below.
If you don’t want to bother with the white chocolate, that’s fine—it’ll still be delicious. Just increase the amount of coconut spread—for sweetness and flavour compensation.
Ingredients
6 egg whites
300 g sugar
360 g unsalted butter, room temperature
80 g white chocolate
110 g coconut spread (145 g if you’re not using white chocolate)
2 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
Instructions
Melt your chocolate in a Bain Marie (or I guess a microwave would work too—but I don’t do microwaves). Set it aside to cool.
Place the egg whites and sugar in a clean and heat-proof bowl, set over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure that the water level is low enough that it doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.
Whisk continually until the sugar has dissolved (using clean hands, pinch the mixture and rub your fingers together—if it’s not granular, it’s done).
Remove the bowl from the heat, and beat it on high with electric beaters until you have a solid meringue, and the bowl is cool to the touch. This could take up to 10 minutes. (This is when I smile to myself that a friend of mine recently gifted me a KitchenAid stand mixer, and I can leave it to do the work while I go clean the kitchen!)
At this point, start adding in your butter, about a tablespoon at a time. Fully incorporate each one before adding in the next. The texture is going to change (for the worse). Don’t stress, it’ll come together in the end. This is one of those it gets worse before it gets better things. It’s ready when it becomes super thick and solid—you’ll notice a marked change when it finally comes together.
Beat in the cooled melted white chocolate, coconut spread, vanilla extract, and salt.
Taste it! Yummyyyyyy.
Easy Shredded Coconut Filling
Notes
I wanted this to be a no fuss filling, something that you literally just stir together with zero prep steps. This is what I came up with! That said, if you want to spend longer on it, and make it extra crazy, you could do like a homemade coconut cream pie filling…but I think this simple option does the job beautifully!
I added a touch of maple syrup based on the sweetness of the brands of coconut spread and condensed coconut milk that I used. Feel free to increase or decrease that quantity based on whatever you use.
Ingredients
65 g coconut spread
70 g condensed coconut milk
10 g maple syrup
30 g shredded desiccated coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, toasted or untoasted, not too finely shred)
Instructions
Stir all ingredients together in a small bowl, using a spoon. Keep at room temperature until ready to use.
Assembly
Ingredients
1/2 cup raspberry jam (natural ingredients or organic—I recommend Bonne Maman or Smucker's)
Whatever you would like to decorate. I used dried florals and edible pearls, but please have fun and be creative!
Instructions
Put a dollop of the buttercream (about a tablespoon) in the centre of the cake stand, and then place the first cake layer on it (don’t level the cake layers off).
Top with a couple of large dollops of icing (for those who don’t feel comfortable eyeballing this—I used 100 g). Using an offset spatula or butterknife, disperse icing into an even layer across the cake. Next, pipe a ring around the outermost line of the cake. You are creating a "well" for the jam. Then, pipe a second ring on top of the first ring (I want a deep well to hold lots of filling). Repeat these steps with your second layer of cake (just keep it on a plate for now). Refrigerate both of these cake layers for about 30 minutes, or until the “wells" have hardened fully.
Remove your two cake layers from the fridge. Fill each "well" halfway with the coconut filling. Then, top the rest of the wells up with raspberry jam.
Gently place the second cake layer on top of the first, frosting/jam side facing up. Top with the third cake layer, flat side up (upside down).
Spread buttercream around the sides and top of the cake. I like to start with an offset spatula, and then take over with an icing smoother (also called a scraper). It’s your choice as to how you want to ice the outside of your cake. I personally like to fill in the gaps of the sides of the cake in this first step, to make it all even, and just do a thin outer layer. I then refrigerate it for about 20-30 minutes.
After that first layer is hardened, I then do a smooth round of icing the cake. You can fully ice it, or do a semi-naked look. And, I like to get an unfinished line at the top lip of the cake—it looks modern and naturalistic in style, which is what I’m after. Feel free to make it a little textured—I prefer that look. [Since the first layer will have hardened, it will be easy to work with, as the layers wont’t be sliding around. If you’re pressed for time, however, or you are doing a more rustic style of icing application that doesn’t require stability (like big swoops), you can just put it all on in one go (not 2 steps). You do you! I just want to explain how I do it, in case you’re new to baking, and could use the tips on how to make the cake easy to work with as you ice it, with a smoother style in mind.]
Refrigerate cake for another 30 minutes to solidify the buttercream.
Decorate the top as desired.
Enjoy at room temperature, or just barely chilled. If it has fully chilled in the fridge, the buttercream will be harder, so take it out of the fridge with enough time for the icing to soften before devouring!
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