Many years ago, I saw a glorious coconut cake on the cover of a magazine. My several attempts at making it were a miserable mess. There just didn’t seem to be enough cake batter to make this six layer cake, so I gave up.
Then I saw Ina Garten make coconut cupcakes and pulled the recipe on-line. I used her cake batter recipe with two big changes: cake flour instead of all purpose flour, and buttermilk instead of whole milk. The result was a sky high cake with a moist and tender crumb. I also substituted this family recipe for Pastry Cream Filling, and used real whipped cream and coconut for the frosting.
Fabulous, a little awkward at the last minute, and messy to cut. Never a piece left though.
Prepare Cake Pans:
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Coconut Cupcakes
Two 9x2”cake pans, plus one 6” cake pan (potentially, two 10x2” cake pans)
- Butter and flour the bottom and sides of the pans.
- Cut parchment for bottom of pans, place inside, and butter and flour top of parchment.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
For the Cake:
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 extra large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
7 oz sweetened coconut
For Cream Filling:
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
4 cups milk
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp pure almond extract
4 oz sweetened shredded cococut
- In a saucepan, wisk the sugar with the flour.
- Add the egg yolks and mix into a paste. Then add the milk and wisk until smooth.
- Over a medium low heat, continue stirring constantly until the mixture starts to boil.
- Once it boils, remove it from the heat, and stir in the remaining ingredients.
Let cool in a glass or metal bowl, then cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours. I usually make this the day before I am going to assemble the cake.
For Frosting:
1 pint heavy whipping cream, cold
1 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract
To Assemble:
- Level the the top of the first layer, and place it top down on a serving plate.
- Add a thick layer of the filling (1/2 inch), to about 1/2 inch of the edges.
- Place the second layer bottom side down and press to even out the filling.
- Cover the top and sides of the cake with the whipped cream, then cover top and sides with the remaining shredded coconut. Keep chilled until ready to serve.