Lemon + Coconut Cake//Lemon Syrup lightly soaks the baked cake layers//Lemon Curd Filling//White Chocolate + Coconut Swiss Meringue Buttercream
•
This is a smash cake, with the option to double recipe to make a regular 6-inch 3 layer cake.
I am so excited to share with you one of my newest obsessions: my Lemon//Coconut Cake with Lemon Curd + White Chocolate//Coconut Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Not only is this recipe a delightful treat for the taste buds, but it's also one of my absolute favorite ways to decorate cakes! Kind of melting over these shots over here.
I’m at my happiest really when I get to combine my passion for baking with my love for artistic expression. I think that’s why cakes are my thing—I equally love to cook, but with cakes I get to make art too! For this little stunner, I've crafted beautiful flowers and petals atop and around the cake, using a palette knife. The addition of cute little pearls and stunning gold leaf creates a truly eye-catching masterpiece that's perfect for any occasion. Ugh, the only bad part is, it’s really heart-wrenching when it’s time to cut it!
Now! Enough chat. Get ready to embark on a culinary journey filled with vibrant flavors, luxurious textures, and exquisite beauty. Whether you're a seasoned baker or just starting out, this Lemon//Coconut//White Chocolate Cake is sure to impress.
Let's break it down:
The Cake: Made with a luscious blend of full-fat cream, lemon zest, and coconut milk powder, this cake boasts a moist and tender texture that melts in your mouth with every bite. Enhanced by hints of coconut and lemon extract, it sets the perfect foundation for this delicate yet flavour-packed creation. As it cools, we spoon over homemade lemon syrup into the cake, adding extra depth of flavour and zing to every layer.
The Lemon Curd: Tangy and bright, the lemon curd adds a burst of citrusy goodness. It's a silky-dreamy element that complements the other components beautifully. I don’t use any starches, and do use plenty of butter, making it so flavourful and unctuous in texture.
The White Chocolate//Coconut Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Smooth, silky, and irresistibly creamy, this buttercream takes luxury to a whole new level. Made with fluffy Swiss meringue, rich white chocolate, coconut extract, and coconut spread, it's a decadent finishing touch that brings everything together in perfect harmony. I love the mellowness of this flavour and texture with the sharpness of the lemon—a perfect balance.
As you dive into this recipe, remember that baking is not just about following instructions—it's about creativity, passion, and a dash of magic. So don your apron, preheat your oven, and let's create something truly special together.
Recipe:
Makes 1 4-inch (3 layer) cake
Notes
To make a 6-inch (3 layer cake), just double the cake recipe. The bake time would be between 23-25 minutes. The lemon curd recipe leaves you with a little extra, and I think it would be enough to fill a 6-inch cake, so no need to increase the quantity. You might want to increase the lemon syrup quantity—I use all but about 1 tbsp, so you’d want to make maybe 25% more. I’m not sure if you need quite double the buttercream, but definitely make more.
Speaking of buttercream amounts, this recipe will leave you with a little extra! However, if you make it with one less egg white (a.k.a. 30% less), you will have a very thin layer which I don’t find is enough.
The coconut milk powder that I used was “Organic Traditions Coconut Milk Powder”. I bought it on Amazon, but I’m sure other high-quality brands would work too. I’ll pop a link to it below. *P.S. the cake is still lovely without the coconut milk powder. If it's not something that you want to invest in, skip it.
P.P.S. the smoother texture that you see in each layer where it's been cut it the lemon syrup! It's not underbaked to be clear.
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!
I often place the melted coconut oil in the fridge to hurry up the process of it coming to room temperature.
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.
Lemon + Coconut Cake
Ingredients
1/2 cup (125 g) full-fat cream
Zest of 2 lemons
2 tbsp (18 g) coconut milk powder
55 g coconut oil (measured before melting)
115 g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 + 1/16 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
2 egg whites, room temperature
30 g butter, room temperature
165 g sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
2 1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and ensure that oven rack is positioned in the middle.
Butter and flour 3 4-inch baking tins.
Heat cream in a small saucepan with lemon zest and coconut milk powder. Simmer over medium-low for 5 minutes. Let this mixture “steep” for as long as you can, before straining out the lemon zest with a tea strainer (it’ll be thick due to the coconut milk powder—use a spoon to help you mix it through). It must be brought to room-temperature before using. Check that you still have 1/2 cup of cream—if any has evaporated, top it up. (I like to let it cool down at room temperature to give the lemon lots of time to infuse, so at this point I’d skip to the lemon curd, and come back here when that’s done! If you don’t have time though, don’t sweat it, stick it in the fridge to cool down quickly to room temperature before using.)
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 15 seconds.
Add in the coconut and lemon extracts. Beat for 30 seconds.
Add in vanilla extract. Beat for 30 more seconds.
Add in dry ingredients and (room-temperature) infused 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 23 minutes. While the cake bakes, make the lemon syrup below.
Remove cake from oven, and let cool for 10 minutes. Then remove from tins. Immediately (and carefully—when cake it hot, it’s delicate!), level off the tops with a knife. Then, spoon over the warm/hot lemon syrup. I use all of it except about 1 tbsp.
Let cool completely.
Lemon Syrup
Ingredients
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (75 g) sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Little pinch of salt
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until reduced and syrupy—about 15 minutes. Remember that it will further thicken as it cools, so don’t over-do it
Spoon over the warm cake, as directed above. No need to let it cool down first.
Lemon Curd
Ingredients
45 g (3 tbsp) lemon juice
Zest of 1 1/2 normal-sized lemons
65 g sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
90 g cold butter, cut into cubes
1/8 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
Instructions
Measure the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, egg, and egg yolk into a blender. Blend on high until completely smooth—about 1 minute.
Pour the blended mixture into a heat-proof bowl, set over a saucepan of simmering water (medium-low heat). Make sure that the water level is low enough that it doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Whisk occasionally. It’s done when it has thickened up, and resembles curd, about 10 minutes. Note that it will become thicker as it cools.
Remove from heat. Whisk in cold butter cubes, 1-2 at a time.
Whisk in salt.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
White Chocolate Coconut 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. Callebaut is good too.
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.
Ingredients
4 egg whites
200 g sugar
105 g white chocolate
240 g butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp coconut extract
80 g coconut spread
1/4 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)
Instructions
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).
Meanwhile, melt your chocolate in a Bain Marie (or a microwave would work too). Set aside. It does NOT need to be cool/room temperature, it’s actually best used warm.
When the sugar in the egg whites has dissolved, 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 warm melted white chocolate. This will make the texture silkier and looser.
Beat in the coconut extract, coconut spread, and salt.
I have one more little trick that I do here. I like to put it in the oven (you heard me right!) on the “bread proofing” setting for 4-5 minutes - this softens it slightly. Then I beat it one last time for 1 minute, and it makes the silkiest, easiest-to-spread texture ever! If you don’t have a setting like this, just put the oven on low and watch that it doesn’t melt.
You’re now ready to move onto the assembly!
Assembly
Instructions
Put a dollop of the buttercream (about a tablespoon) in the centre of the cake board/stand, and then place the first cake layer on it.
Top with 35 g of buttercream. Using an offset spatula, disperse icing into an even layer across the cake. Next, pipe a ring around the outside to create a “well” for the curd.
Repeat these steps with your second layer of cake (just keep it on a plate for now). Refrigerate both of these cake layers for 20-25 minutes, to firm up your “wells".
Remove your two cake layers from the fridge. Fill each "well" to the top with the lemon curd.
Gently place the second cake layer on top of the first, well/curd 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 minutes.
After that first layer is hardened, I then do a smooth round of icing the cake. 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. However, since the cake is small and pretty sturdy, you absolutely 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.
I then used a palette knife to create the flowers/petals, and added accents of gold leaf and pearls.
Enjoy at room temperature. 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! It’s very important that the cake be room temperature when consumed so that it’s soft.
Enjoy!
To leave a comment, you will need to Sign Up or Login, as prompted by the pop-up which will appear when you hit Publish.
Another beautiful creation! Sent with love from Maria ✨❤️✨