Coconut Cake
This moist coconut cake is reminiscent of the venerable classic that was a staple of birthdays for years, and is now most often found in the freezer case at the grocery store. It uses one of our favorite ingredients: powdered coconut milk. While you can find it at The Baker’s Catalogue, naturally, I’ve also bought it at natural foods markets and Asian grocery stores, where it’s usually in the Thai section. What a wonderful thing; to take coconut milk and evaporate the water, so when you use it you can make it as thick or thin as you like! When added dry to cake batter it replaces a little of the fat, and makes an incredibly tender and moist crumb. If you’re a coconut fan, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without the stuff.—S.R.
Cake
3 cups (12 ounces) Queen Quinevere Cake Flour
2/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) coconut milk powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups (10 ounces) sugar
6 large egg whites (about 1 1/4 cups; packaged liquid egg whites work fine, too)
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) whole milk, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 drops coconut flavoring
Coconut Frosting
1 (14-ounce can) unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
5 1/2 cups (22 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla or 3 to 4 drops strong coconut flavoring
Garnish
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded sweetened coconut
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Soak two cake strips, if you have them. Grease and flour (or line with parchment circles and spray with nonstick spray) two 8-inch square cake pans that are at least 2 inches deep.
To make the cake: Whisk together the cake flour, coconut milk powder, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is extremely light and fluffy; scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl after two minutes of beating, and beat for at least three minutes more. Add 1/4 of the dry ingredients, mix until combined, and scrape the mixing bowl.
Combine the egg whites, milk, and flavorings; add 1/3 of the mixture to the ingredients in the bowl and mix until combined. Continue adding dry and wet ingredients by turns, until all are incorporated. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl one last time, and mix for another minute.
Divide the batter between the two pans, and wrap the outsides with the soaked cake strips. If you don’t have cake strips, place the pans in larger pans and fill the water halfway up the sides of the layers. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center and the edges just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Remove from the oven and place on a rack; remove the cake strips. Let the layers cool for 20 minutes, then turn out of the pan and return to the rack to finish cooling completely before filling and frosting.
To make the frosting: Set a fine-mesh strainer or colander over a bowl and line it with a clean linen towel. Pour the coconut milk into the lined strainer and let the coconut water drain for up to 2 hours, until you have a thick lump of coconut cream.
After the coconut milk has drained, cream the butter with 2 cups confectioners’ sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the salt and vanilla (or coconut extract) until the mixture is smooth. Add the coconut cream and mix, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar until you have a smooth, spreadable frosting. Cover and hold at room temperature until ready to use.
To finish the cake: Split the cooled cake layers horizontally. Place half of one layer on a serving plate; spread with 1/4 of the frosting. Place the other half on top, spread with another 1/4 of the frosting. Repeat with the remaining layers until you’ve used them all.
To decorate the cake: Sprinkle some coconut at the base of the cake and over the top.
Yield: 1 layer cake, 16 servings.
Reviews
02/20/2009
Wow, what a fabulous Coconut Cake! I made this cake today and we ate it for dessert tonight. I went totally with all the ingredients and even used the soaked baking strips for the pans. It has a very light buttery taste and texture. The recipe calls for several different forms of coconut, but it absolutely does not overpower the delicate flavor. Be sure to do a good job of greasing and flouring the pans as the cake is very delicate. I can recommend this cake very highly. I never thought I'd taste a better coconut cake than what my grandmother used to bake for our birthdays. Thank you, King Arthur!
03/03/2009
Great coconut cake! Wonderfully light, soft, and the best coconut flavor of any coconut cake I've ever had. I was worried that the icing would be too sweet (it was), so I used a tart lemon filling between the cut cake layers. While good, I probably wouldn't do it again. Instead, I'd just use the frosting from the recipe on the inside of the cake and frost the outside in a white mountain frosting flavored with coconut. I was glad I bought 8-inch cake pans for theis recipe as it created a nice tall cake - perfect for a birthday party.
05/12/2009
This is the BEST coconut cake I have ever tasted! My husband, his friends at work and our neighbor all agree that they have never tasted such a delicious coconut cake. I did have a problem making the frosting when I tried to strain the coconut milk through a towel I THOUGHT was linen. It was cotton and all the water was not strained out. This resulted in a rather runny frosting, but everyone still loved it! I was wondering if I could strain it through several layers of cheesecloth next time I make this cake. If not, then I'll just have to buy a piece of linen from the local fabric shop. I will be making this cake again and again! Way to go, KAF!!!
Yes several lavers of good thightly woven cheesecloth will work nicely. Joan@bakershotline.
08/10/2009
I am the biggest fan of coconut and have never been able to find a recipe that had good coconut flavor without tasting fake or being overpowering. Well this is the BEST coconut cake I have ever made or tasted and will continue to make this cake every year for my birthday! The cake is very tender but dense at the same time, the perfect texture. My friend wants me to make this for her wedding, that's how good it is. I want to try making these as cupcakes to send to my mom. Any suggestions?
This should work well as cupcakes. They would bake probably 17-20 minutes. Have fun with them. Mary @ KAF
08/28/2009
I was thinking of using paper coffee filters to strain the coconut milk instead of the linen. This is something that I do routinely with plain yogurt to remove the whey to make thicker Greek-style yogurt. Any thoughts from the KAF bakers?
It should work. Try it and let us know. Mary @ KAF < /strong>
09/21/2009
I made this recipe as cupcakes for my son to take to school for his birthday. Made a few minor tweaks to the batter for baking at 4500ft (added 2Tbs AP flour, decreased sugar by 2Tbs). Used muffin scoop (~1/4 cup) to fill some cute swirled cupcake liners I got from KAF. Baked 19 min (no water bath). Cupcakes rose beautifully. Lovely domed tops, but not to the extent of a muffin. Perfect. I tried making the frosting as written, but ran into several problems making the coconut cream from the coconut milk. That's why I'm docking 1 star. First, the coconut milk I initially bought had Guar Gum added, which the can says is a "stabilizer". I poured it into a colander lined with a coffee filter and after 4h there wasn't a drop of coconut water in the bowl beneath. Drat. I think the guar gum helps keep the coconut solids from separating from the liquid. Second, I tracked down a different brand of coconut milk without guar gum, poured it into the colander with a fresh coffee filter, after 2hr there was a couple of Tbs of liquid below in the bowl, but hardly enough to significantly thicken the milk into "cream". So the coffee filter experiment is a bust, with or without guar gum. I would recommend staying away from coconut milk with guar gum even if you have the linen cloth to strain your milk. I'm sure it would just get in the way. In the end I made a modified version of the Quick Buttercream Recipe on this site. I added 1/4c coconut milk powder to the recipe and a couple of drops of coconut extract. I applied a medium-thin layer of frosting and then dipped the top into the shredded coconut. It turned out great, but I have over half the frosting recipe left so I would cut that down next time. This recipe made 28 standard cupcakes. I can't compare it to other coconut cakes because this is my first time trying one! Hey, growing up we ate our coconut in German Chocolate cakes! Our family really enjoyed this recipe, especially my son who loves coconut. Toasted coconut would taste great on these, too. Another nice bonus is that the coconut topping keeps the frosting from getting on the plastic wrap when transporting.
Thanks for sharing your baking adventure with everyone. We all learn from our adventures in the kitchen! Irene @ KAF
10/02/2009
Hello everyone! Just thought I’d pop in to let you all know about the coconut cake recipe that I made for dh’s birthday. First of all, the recipe called for twelve ounces of ‘Queen Guinevere Cake Flour’ and, although I have no idea what sort of flour it is, I decided to use Bero Self Raising Flour (plus 2 teaspoons of baking powder instead of four, as in the recipe). Then the next ingredient required was two and a half ounces of ‘coconut milk powder’ (nowhere to be found round these parts) SO I substituted four ounces of creamed coconut (you buy it in a block over here) reconstituted it with a few spoonfuls of coconut milk, then stuck it in the mixer with the butter and sugar. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly (had prepared two eight inch cake tins by lining them with some buttered baking paper) until I realized that I needed ‘two soaked cake strips’ - two what??? After a short mild panic and reading through the instructions a little more carefully, I was relieved that that there was an alternative – except that I was using the largest cake pans that I have, so placed the (now filled with cake batter) cake tins inside my roasting pan/tray filled with water as full as it could hold... The cakes turned out wonderfully soft and moist. The coconut milk for the frosting was another matter – there was no ‘residue’ after straining the milk – it went straight through the linen cloth, it was so thin! Again, I reconstituted another block of ‘coconut cream’ and stuck it in the mixer with the butter and vanilla essence and a couple of spoonfuls of coconut flour, then beat it all together till it was creamy, THEN added the confectioners’ sugar a spoonful at a time (tasting it as I went along) until it was sweet enough for our taste. Assembling the cake was tricky as the cake was so moist but the frosting covered any flaws made during construction. It was a trial, but my family thoroughly enjoyed eating the coconut birthday cake – it was delightful - so much so that I’m going to have another go at making it... Wish me luck :^) Best regards, sue (t’other side o’t’pond) x
10/06/2009
Hello everyone! Just thought I would pop in to let you all know about the coconut cake recipe that I made for dhs birthday. First of all, the recipe called for twelve ounces of Queen Guinevere Cake Flour and, although I have no idea what sort of flour it is, I decided to use Bero Self Raising Flour (plus 2 teaspoons of baking powder instead of four, as in the recipe). Then the next ingredient required was two and a half ounces of coconut milk powder (nowhere to be found round these parts) SO I substituted four ounces of creamed coconut (you buy it in a block over here) reconstituted it with a few spoonfuls of coconut milk, then stuck it in the mixer with the butter and sugar. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly (had prepared two eight inch cake tins by lining them with some buttered baking paper) until I realized that I needed two soaked cake strips - two what??? After a short mild panic and reading through the instructions a little more carefully, I was relieved that that there was an alternative except that I was using the largest cake pans that I have, so placed the (now filled with cake batter) cake tins inside my roasting pan/tray filled with water as full as it could hold... The cakes turned out wonderfully soft and moist. The coconut milk for the frosting was another matter there was no residue after straining the milk - it went straight through the linen cloth, it was so thin! Again, I reconstituted another block of coconut cream and stuck it in the mixer with the butter and vanilla essence and a couple of spoonfuls of coconut flour, then beat it all together till it was creamy, THEN added the confectioners sugar a spoonful at a time (tasting it as I went along) until it was sweet enough for our taste. Assembling the cake was tricky as the cake was so moist but the frosting covered any flaws made during construction. It was a bit of a trial, but my family thoroughly enjoyed eating the coconut birthday cake - it was delightful - so much so that I am going to have another go at making it... Wish me luck :^) Best regards, sue (t other side o t pond) x
10/09/2009
Since I'm the baker in the family, my sister asked me to make the cake for our mom's 85th birthday party, which was on Oct. 3rd. The reason I made this cake for Mom's party is because she has always raved about HER Mom's fresh coconut cake! Mom's birthday dinner party was held at my brother's house, which is a 90-minute drive from our house. Since my cake carrier is round, I decided to bake the cake using 3 9" round pans. This worked very well and I did not have to split the layers, which I'm not good at anyway. Since straining the coconut milk through linen and cheesecloth did not work for me, I tried something differnt this time. I used burlap and it worked like a charm! I did wash the burlap before using it, simply because burlap can be a bit dusty. I started the straining just before I started to make the cake. By the time I was ready to make the frosting, there was a lovely glob of coconut cream in the burlap! Except for my mom, my entire family said this was the BEST coconut cake they had ever tasted! My mom said it was just as good as the cake HER mom made! I think I will continue to make this cake in 3 round pans. Its SOOOOO GOOD!!!!!
11/11/2009
THE CAKE WAS DENSE WITH A WONDERFUL FLAVOR. IT WAS VERY EASY TO MAKE AND DELICIOUS THE FROSTING WAS NOT. THE COCONUT MILK DID NOT SEPERATE TO GIVE ME THE CREAM. THANKFULLY I HAD READ THE OTHER REVIEWS SO WAS PREPARED FOR THIS. I ADDED MORE COCONUT FLAVORING AND THE COCONUT MILK TO GET THE DESIRED CONSISTENCY. I ALSO LIGHTLY SPRINKLED COCONUT BETWEEN MY LAYERS. I USED THREE 9" CAKE PANS AND THEY WORKED VERY WELL. I WOULD MAKE THIS CAKE AGAIN BUT NOT THE ICING-VERY DISAPPOINTED AS IT WAS A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY CAKE AND I WANTED IT TO BE PERFECT, ESPECIALLY SINCE IT WAS FROM SCRATCH!!!
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