We love coconut! People usually have very strong opinions about coconut … they either love it or hate it, but rarely do you find a person who is ambivalent about coconut. Are you a coconut lover or hater? We can’t get enough of it whether it’s in macaroons, a Ritter Sport candy bar, 7-layer bar cookies, or even as a condiment for chicken curry. It’s especially good when paired with coconut cream cheese frosting on this layer cake!
Or, the cutest little Easter cupcakes! 🐣🐇🧁 This cake also makes 24 of the cutest, most delicious cupcakes and we made these, especially for Easter! Add a few of your favorite baby jelly beans on top of the coconut and it looks like a little bird’s nest!
Layer cake or cupcakes? That is the question, and when in doubt, we always pick cupcakes because they are so much easier to frost and decorate and everyone gets their own individual serving! Plus, they freeze so well for a quick dessert at some later point in time when you are rushing around trying to get dinner and dessert on the table!
This coconut cake is super moist because it’s made with sweetened cream of coconut, like a Coco Lopez or Real Gourmet Cream of Coconut … the kind your friendly bartender uses in Pina Coladas! We use it in both the cake itself and the frosting. And, if we happen to have a little bit of extra on hand, sometimes we spread a thin amount on the middle layers before covering them with frosting, too.
Cream of Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 3 8-inch cake pans Or two regular 12-muffin tins
Ingredients
King of Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 8 oz. unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup canned, sweetened cream of coconut, such as Coco Casa Coconut Cream
- 4 large eggs separated
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)
- 4 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
Cream of Coco Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup canned, sweetened cream of coconut
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 72 small jelly beans for Easter cupcake garnish
Instructions
King of Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Preheat oven to 350⁰ F. Line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
- Separate egg whites and yolks. Put whites in a mixing bowl and yolks in a small bowl.
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to blend. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter together with the sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add coconut cream and continue to beat until well-integrated.
- Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.
- On low speed beat in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, starting and ending with dries.
- Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt in the separate bowl until stiff, but not too dry. Gently fold beaten egg whites into the cake batter.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the two prepared pans.
- Bake cakes until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into cakes comes out clean, anywhere from 25-35 minutes, depending on your oven. When done, remove cakes from the oven. Cool cakes on a rack for about 10 minutes. Then run a sharp knife around the edges to loosen cakes. Remove cakes from pans to racks, and cool completely.
To Assemble
- With a long bread knife, cut each cake layer in half horizontally.
- Place the first half layer on a cake plate.
- Spread chocolate coconut frosting over this layer and lay the other half layer on top.
- Repeat the process with each half layer, ending with cream cheese frosting on top of the cake.
- Spread remaining frosting all around the sides of the cake. Completely cover sides of cake with shredded coconut and pat gently into the frosting with the palm of your hands. If you want to go all out, cover the top of the cake with shredded coconut too!
Cream of Coco Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until fluffy.
- Add powdered sugar, alternately with cream of coconut, and beat until fluffy and well-blended with each addition.
- Add more or less powdered sugar to arrive at desired spreading consistency. Add vanilla and beat once more.
- For the filling, separate out about 1 cup of the frosting and blend in either the cocoa powder or the melted and cooled bittersweet chocolate. This will be the frosting for between the half layers of cake!