Coconut Cake

- August 22, 2020

It's my sister's birthday today! She requested a Coconut Birthday Cake so this is what I made her, with a little bit of help from my lovely little niece.

I found this recipe online and adapted it a little bit. We aren't big fans of vast quantities of icing, so I only made half the amount of frosting and just put a layer in between and on top.

I also only had two cake tins the right size so couldn't make it three tiered! But it was light, fluffy and totally delicious!

Ingredients for the cake:

275g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

170g butter

330g granulated sugar

5 egg whites

120g sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp coconut extract

240ml canned coconut milk

80g desiccated coconut

For the frosting:

115g butter, softened

112g cream cheese

300g icing sugar

1 tbsp canned coconut milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp coconut extract

1/8 tsp salt

a handful of desiccated coconut for decorating

a few spoonfuls of raspberry jam

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175°. Grease two or three 9 inch cake tins.

2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Put to one side.

3. Using a handheld or standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg whites until combined, then add the sour cream, vanilla and coconut extract. Beat until combined (it will look a bit curdled) On a low speed, add the dry ingredients and coconut milk. Then add the dessicated coconut. The mixture will be glossy and thick.

4. Pour the batter into your prepared tins. Bake for 25-27 minutes (if doing two tiers) or 21-23 minutes (if doing three tiers) Leave to cool completely before assembling.

5. To make the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese together on a medium speed using a hand held mixer or a standing mixer with a whisk attachment. Add the icing sugar, vanilla, coconut extract and salt. Increase the speed and beat for 3 minutes.

6. To assemble, put one cake on a serving plate and spread with half the frosting mixture. Turn the other cake upside down and slather with raspberry jam. Pop this cake, jam side down, on top of the bottom tier. Spread the rest of the frosting on the top of the cake and sprinkle with dessicated coconut.