Recipe from Larissa Raphael
Adapted by Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- 5(1,555)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This impressive and wonderfully moist layer cake is less sweet than the usual coconut affair, thanks to a tangy cream cheese frosting on top and dose of orange juice in the batter. This is a great dessert to make in advance. You can bake the cake layers up to 3 days ahead and store them, well-wrapped in plastic, in the refrigerator. The frosted cake will keep for 2 days in the fridge as well, either under a cake dome or overturned bowl, or loosely tented with foil. Just make sure to bring the cake to room temperature before serving.
Here are more layer cake recipes. —Melissa Clark
Featured in: A Sugar Rush, Not Crush
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 12 servings
- 2sticks/226 grams unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
- 2cups/265 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
- ½teaspoon/3 grams fine sea salt
- 2teaspoons/10 grams baking powder
- ¾cup/140 grams granulated sugar
- 3eggs, separated, plus 3 whites
- 1½cups/355 milliliters sweetened cream of coconut, such as Coco Lopez
- 1¼cups/295 milliliters unsweetened coconut milk
- 2tablespoons/30 milliliters coconut or dark rum
- 7tablespoons/104 milliliters freshly squeezed orange juice
- 3cups/370 grams unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2sticks/226 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 2cups/454 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2teaspoons/10 milliliters vanilla extract
- 7¼cups/2 pounds/907 grams confectioners’ sugar
- 2¾cups/340 grams unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut, toasted
For the Cake
For the Frosting
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
1594 calories; 102 grams fat; 76 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 167 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 133 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 427 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Make the Cake
Step
1
Grease 3 8-inch cake pans and dust with flour. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step
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Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and reserve. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment and beat until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add 3 egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl with spatula. Lower speed and gradually add flour mixture. Batter will be thick and pasty.
Step
3
Whisk together cream of coconut, coconut milk, rum and orange juice. Alternately add shredded coconut and the orange juice mixture to the batter.
Step
4
In the clean bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip 6 egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold into batter.
Step
5
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Cool in pans on wire rack. Unmold cakes once cool.
Make the Frosting
Step
6
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla extract. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, scraping down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix until combined and fluffy.
Step
7
Spread ¼-inch-thick layer of frosting on top of the first layer of cake. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Place next cake layer on top and repeat with frosting and coconut. Repeat with the third layer, spreading frosting on top and around sides of cake. Hold cake steadily in one hand and use other hand to pat remaining coconut onto edges of cake.
Ratings
5
out of 5
1,555
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Rich
Can this just be simply adjusted to two 9 inch layers, rather than 3 8 inch pans, for those of us who just have sets of 2 pans rather than 3?
BeS
Despite trawling through and cooking from a couple of dozen food-related sites and blogs weekly, I've never taken the time to write a single comment. Until now. I made this cake for a dear friend's birthday whose mother used to make him a coconut cake every year until she passed away 25 years ago. He tasted this and nearly cried with joy. "I didn't think I'd ever taste a cake again that I liked as much as mom's. This one surpasses it." Home run.
Robin
My feedback to,the recipe writers is to,use helpful equivalents for home bakers
Such as 1- 2# pound bag of powdered sugar.
I- 15 oz. can of cream of coconut
1- 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk.
Makes shopping easier.
A. Miller
If you are having 20+ people for Easter, and have out of town houseguests, and your husband is in the clergy, and you sing in the choir, and it is 1 am on Easter and you are finishing the icing and questioning your life choices and wondering whether this cake is worth it, it TOTALLY is. And I'm not just saying that because I gave up sweets for Lent; this is without a doubt one of the best cakes I have ever made. Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe!
HilaryKS
Coconut or rum. If one did not want to use rum, would that be coconut extract?
Beth Massa
7 1/4 cup powdered sugar for the icing? Is that correct? I stopped at 2 cups and it was plenty sweet.
Susan Edgerley
This earned smiles at my house and in the newsroom of NYTCooking. I would recommend parchment paper in the bottom of the cake pans and going easy on the frosting -- don't be afraid to use, say, three-quarters of the frosting you make.
J Scrapple
The cake is great. The only comment is that I cut the sugar in the frosting in half and it was just fine. More like a carrot cake frosting, but it works because the cake itself is actually pretty sweet from the Coco Loco. Definitely making this again.
Note: I also swirled raspberry preserves in the layers because its one of my favorite flavor combos. I imagine apricot, fig, or other swirls would be terrific too.
Genny
Okay, can I just say how awesome this cake was??? The triple coconut hit of coconut milk, cream of coconut, and shredded coconut, plus the lovely scent of the fresh orange juice made this one of the most delicious cakes I have ever had. Often layer cakes are just a vehicle for frosting, but not this time! A lovely, perfumed stunner!
Laura K
Truly worth the time and ingredients.
Test earlier than recommended as cake cooked much quicker than suggested. 35-40 minutes was sufficient.
Luther
Just curious, why comment on a dynamic cake that you haven't baked?
Jennifer
Beautiful, rich, and delicious but be warned it takes forever to make. I'm not a cake making expert but it worked out very well. I used two 9 inch pans, baked 30-35 min. Followed someone else's suggestion and swirled raspberry preserves in middle frosting layer, which was perfect. Used 6 c powdered sugar and only 1 c toasted coconut for frosting. Instead of actual rum, I used 1 Tablespoon rum extract. Would make this again for special occasion.
Mary
Needed to make 2 cakes. From one recipe-- used 2 loaf pans and cut each in half to create 2 layers for each cake. Sliced thin pieces.
This has to be by far the most fantastic coconut cake on the planet!
Andy Gustafson
I always make a little extra frosting, frequently scraping mixing bowl to cover the cake, but this recipe had adequate volume. Nice. I laughed at the technique suggested for adding remaining toasted unsweetened coconut to the sides of the cake. "Hold cake steadily in one hand?" What? Does Ms. Clark mean this cake with soft, cream cheese frosting on the sides? I just kind of tossed it at the sides and pressed whatever stuck.
A great cake, visually and taste.
Ibakeforfun
I was rather disappointed with my cake. It turned out too heavy and doughy. What could i have done wrong?
Shannon
Made a few modifications. Used 3 9" pans as that was what I had. Turned out fine.Used 2 3/4 cups coconut milk (no cream of coconut) and simply added 1/4 cup sugar to replace some of the sweetness. I prefer things less sweet and figured the frosting would be plenty sweet. Added 1/4 tsp of coconut extract to the frosting. Cake was beautiful and tasted great!
kat
This cake was delicious. I subbed key lime juice for orange juice and grated some zest into the frosting. Next time, I would heed others’ advice and use less sugar in the frosting. By the end of my slice it was too sweet. This recipe definitely makes more than enough frosting. I used the recommended quarter inch of frosting and had about two cups left over. Also, I used coconut flakes instead of shredded, and while I liked the look, it was too chewy. Definitely use shredded!
Shadi
I used a whole 2 lb bag of powdered sugar. This was let about the sweetness and more about the structure from the cornstarch, especially given the amount of cream cheese and cake. Especially because the cake is not super sweet on its own, this worked great.I recommend adding a crumb coat of icing and fridging it before icing the cake with the rest of the frosting, just to make sure you have an even coat.Probably goes without saying: don’t store layers on top of one another before assembly.
CC
I have a spouse who adores coconut desserts, but despises orange desserts. I’m trying to figure out if this is a viable birthday cake for him. Can anyone confirm if the orange juice flavor is quite noticeable?
Erica
Looking forward to making this recipe for Easter! Has anyone tried using a 1:1 gluten free baking flour (such as Bob's Red Mill)? One of the guests is gluten free and would love for them to be able to eat this (and for me not to make a second dessert!)
K L
Agree that the cake was quite dense. Maybe because of the 3 cups of coconut? Next time would make do less coconut in the batter in hopes it would lighten up the cake. Plus, the cake gets plenty of coconut flavor from other ingredients.Still, a hit!!!
weight
Total weight of batter is around 1840 grams
jimmy
Made this several times. Delicious! However, as others noted, the weight stated for coconut cannot possibly be correct. Use the cup measurement. My cakes were done in <30 minutes, and my oven temperature is correct per oven thermometer.
kate degnan
Another constructive comment for recipe writers: provide specifics for filling the 3 cake pans: approximately how many cups to pour into each pan so the layers turn out approximately the same size. I echo the comment requesting can sizes for coconut milk and cream.
kate degnan
Convection bake 37-38 min ( oven set at 350 butt registers 325)
SuFre
Lots of work, lots of big bowls, but extraordinary flavor! I used two 9" pans. If I make this again, I'll purchase three 8" pans. Hopefully there will be a second person to help out; it took me 1 1/2 hours to make just the batter.
Cassie
I made this with coconut extract and two layers instead of one and it was absolutely amazing! My coworkers loved it, if you love coconut this is for you.
Rose
When this recipe calls for coconut milk, does it mean from a can, or liquid coconut milk more like almond milk?
Minnie P.
Ok… I had to try baking this one more time. Yes, I left a grumpy review, but I think I messed something up. My second attempt I filled the pan higher (I had anticipated rising on my first cake— it did not rise at all). The cake tasted better when the layers were thicker.Anyway.. this cake is like a coconut macaron. It’s not terrible! I think I leveled up after this cake lol
Minnie P.
Overhyped cake, sorry. So far I’ve only made the cake and it is very disappointing. Dense, doughy, stodgy. I would not make again. Not going to put in the effort to make the frosting because I do not want to serve this to anyone.
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