The Moistest Coconut Cake Recipes

COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans.
• Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in the egg whites until combined, then add the sour cream, vanilla extract, and coconut extract. Beat until combined. Mixture will look curdled as a result of the varying textures and solid butter combining. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients and coconut milk. Beat on low speed until combined, then add the shredded coconut. Whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no butter lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick.
• Pour batter evenly into cake pans. Weigh them to ensure accuracy, if desired. Bake for around 21-23 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
• In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, coconut milk, vanilla extract, coconut extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add more confectioners' sugar if frosting is too thin, more coconut milk if frosting is too thick, or an extra pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
• Using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with about 1 and 1/2 cups of frosting. Top with 2nd cake layer and evenly cover the top with about 1 and 1/2 cups of frosting. Top with the third cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides. I use and recommend an icing spatula to apply the frosting and bench scraper to smooth the sides. Sprinkle coconut on top of the cake and apply it to the sides. This can get a little messy and you can watch me do it in the video tutorial above. See blog post above about buttercream rose decoration.
• Refrigerate cake for at least 20 minutes before slicing. This helps the cake hold its shape when cutting, though it's still a pretty fluffy cake!
• Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

THE BEST COCONUT LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Position racks in the middle and lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper; butter the parchment, dust with flour and tap out the excess. Set aside.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk the buttermilk and cream of coconut in a small bowl. Beat the butter and 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla and coconut extracts. Reduce the mixer speed to low; beat in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, until combined.
• Beat the egg whites and the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl with clean beaters on medium-high speed until stiff glossy peaks form, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter in three batches until just combined (do not overmix). Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cakes are lightly browned and the centers spring back when lightly pressed, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool 20 minutes in the pans, then run a small knife around the edges of each cake and carefully invert onto the racks; remove the parchment and let cool completely.
• For the frosting: Beat the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in about half of the confectioners' sugar until combined. Add the remaining confectioners' sugar, salt and vanilla and coconut extracts and beat until combined. Increase the mixer speed to medium high and continue beating, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Place one cake layer on a cake stand or platter and top with a heaping 2/3 cup frosting. Add another cake layer, more frosting and the last cake layer. Cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle the coconut all over the top and sides of the cake, gently pressing to adhere.

ULTIMATE COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. For the Cake, spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with no stick cooking spray. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
• Beat butter, granulated sugar and extract in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk on low speed until just blended. Beat on medium-high speed 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pans.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire rack.
• For the Frosting, beat butter and extract in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating well after each addition. Beat in desired amount of milk until light and fluffy. Fill and frost cooled cake with Frosting. Sprinkle top of frosted cake with toasted coconut.

ULTIMATE COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread coconut flakes in an even layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake until golden, 5 to 7 minutes; set aside to cool.
• Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level; discard trimmings. Cut each cake into 3 even layers. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan.
• Place one layer on the cake plate. Brush with about one-fifth of the simple syrup. Spread over 2 cups of filling. Place a second layer on top. Repeat process with the next four layers and top with last remaining layer.
• Spread top and sides of cake with frosting, keeping in mind you may not need to use all of it. Press toasted coconut into sides of cake; remove parchment paper strips. Chill cake at least 5 hours and up to 5 days. Slice immediately; bring to room temperature before serving.

THE ULTIMATE MOIST, FLUFFY, RIDICULOUS COCONUT CAKE RECIPE - (4.4/5)

Steps:

• *NOTE ON TIMING: This cake has many steps, but none of them are particularly hard. For convenience, I'd split it up over 2-3 days. On the first day, bake the cake layers and let them cool before wrapping and freezing them. Make the coconut syrup and leave it covered in the fridge. On the second day, make the coconut pastry cream and frosting. Assemble the cake. Serve it then or on the third day. Make the cake: Set oven rack in middle position. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or butter/flour two 9-inch cake pans very well. Add a parchment paper circle in the bottom of each and grease that too. You don't want your layers to stick! Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into a small bowl and whisk gently until blended. In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks left. Add all but about 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Scrape down the sides of bowl before beating just a little longer. Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans and smooth the tops with a spatula before dropping it from about 3 inches high to eliminate any bubbles in the batter. Arrange pans on middle rack. Bake until a thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, 23 to 25 minutes. Let the cakes rest in pans for a few minutes before running a knife around the edges of the pan and inverting the cakes onto wire racks. Invert them again so they'll be right-side up and let them cool completeley, about 1 1/2 hours, before wrapping in wax paper and plastic wrap to freeze until pretty firm, about 30 minutes. Make the coconut pastry cream: Heat the coconut milk, sugar, salt and vanilla bean or extract in a medium saucepan over medium heat. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and corn starch. Once the cream is hot, remove the vanilla bean (if used), scraping out any remaining seeds and returning them to the cream. Add 1/2 cup of the hot cream slowly to the yolks, whisking as you add, to temper the eggs so they won't cook into an omelette in the middle of your pastry cream. That would be a bummer. Then pour the yolk mixture into the pot of hot cream and whisk. Continue to whisk with heat on medium-high for 3 more minutes. The mixture will turn thick and bubble. You need to continue to whisk for the full 3 minutes or the pastry cream will separate once it is cool. After the 3 minutes, whisk in the butter. Add the coconut flakes. Pour into a shallow dish to cool. Cover with plastic wrap pressed right against the pastry cream. This will prevent a thick skin from forming on the surface. Refrigerate for at least an hour or freeze for 30 minutes. Once it is cold, stir the pastry cream to loosen. Whip the 1/2 cup cream to medium peaks. Stir in 1/3 to the pastry cream to lighten. Fold in the remaining cream until the pastry cream is nice and light. Avoid eating entire bowl of pastry cream with a spoon. To make coconut syrup: Combine the sugar, water, and coconut milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Make Coconut Swiss buttercream icing: Combine sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil without stirring until syrup reaches 240° on a digital thermometer, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer on medium speed, gradually pour in hot syrup in a thin stream; avoid pouring syrup on whisk. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until stiff peaks form and mixture is cool, about 8 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition. (If at any time buttercream appears curdled, beat on high until smooth, then reduce speed to medium and continue beating in butter.) Once all butter is added, beat on high speed until buttercream is smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla and coconut extract. Assemble the cake: Carefully slice each cake layer in half with a long serrated knife. Drizzle a couple tablespoons of coconut syrup over the "inner" side (the one that seems most porous) of each layer. Spread 1/3 of the coconut pastry cream filling onto the first cake layer. Spread it almost to the edge, but pipe a thick bead of buttercream around the very outside edge of each layer to ensure no spillage. Sprinkle with flaked coconut. Repeat with the other layers. Frost the cake with a very thin crumb coat and set it in the freezer to set for about 15 minutes. Bring it out and continue frosting the rest of the cake generously. Carefully push handfuls of fluffy coconut all over the sides of the cake and on top. Keep the cake in the refrigerator, but let sit out for about 30 minutes before slicing and serving so the frosting will be soft.

INCREDIBLE COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. , Preheat oven to 325°. In another large bowl, beat sugar, butter and oil until well blended. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. , Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition. Stir in coconut and extracts.. , Add cream of tartar to egg whites; with clean beaters, beat on medium until stiff peaks form. Fold a fourth of the egg whites into batter, then fold in remaining whites., Transfer to 3 greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and extract; beat until smooth. , Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting and sprinkle with 1/3 cup coconut. Repeat. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake; sprinkle with remaining coconut. Refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting. Store in the refrigerator.

SUPER-MOIST COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Begin by choosing a cake pan recommended on the cake mix box.
• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Generously spray the cake pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour.
• Using an electric mixer on low to medium speed, mix the cake mix, coconut milk, 2 eggs, and shredded coconut.
• Mix until moistened, but don't over mix.
• Pour into greased cake pan of your choice.
• Bake at 350° following the time frame given on the cake mix box. Time is based on the type of cake pan used.
• If you prefer to leave out the shredded coconut, reduce the coconut milk by about 2 ounces (more or less).

MOIST COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
• Cream sugar and butter together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy; scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add egg, coconut flavoring, baking powder, and salt; beat for 1 minute and scrape the bowl. Beat in coconut milk until combined. Stir in flour until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat for 3 minutes.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan and spread until smooth. Drop the pan from 2 inches above the counter a few times to eliminate any large air pockets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the sides of the cake pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack. Let cool completely, 30 minutes or longer.
• Meanwhile, bring cream to a full boil, watching carefully to prevent scorching. Remove pan from the heat and add white chocolate; stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Place in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled, about 30 minutes.
• Remove chocolate mixture from the refrigerator and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Frost the cooled cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

MOIST 'N' CREAMY COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Bake a 9" X 13" white or yellow cake from a mix or homemade.
• After cake has cooled about 15 minutes, poke holes down through cake with utility fork.
• While cake is cooling, make syrup. Combine milk, sugar, and 1/2 cup of the coconut in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute.
• While hot, carefully spoon coconut syrup evenly over warm cake, allowing it to soak down through the holes. Cool cake completely before frosting.
• Fold 1/2 cup coconut into the Cool Whip or stabilized whipped cream. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle remaining coconut over surface of whipped cream.
• Refrigerate leftovers.

SMOKED COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Set a smoker to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper.
• In a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld mixer, beat together the sugar, eggs, and egg whites on high speed until pale and thick enough to form a ribbon when you lift the beater and let the mixture fall back on itself. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the jasmine extract, salt, and flour, being careful not to deflate the eggs. Stir in the coconut flakes just until evenly distributed (the batter will be thick). Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a moistened rubber spatula.
• When the smoker reaches the target temperature and the smoke runs clear, put the pan directly on the grate, close the lid, and bake until a toothpick or the tip of a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.
• Remove from the smoker and let cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve. The bars can kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.