Coconut Dream Cake & A Happy New Year!
Because it’s New Year’s Eve I can post twice in one day, right?! Especially when it means a cake recipe! And not just any cake…a festive, fun, fabulous and delicious cake! I wanted to make something special for our New Year’s Eve party, and this Coconut Dream Cake was it!
Now say this out loud, and repeat it…”Coconut Dream Cake” Doesn’t that just sound amazing?!
Now I warn you…I’m no cake decorata’, but I can bake a mean cake. The fact that this recipe calls for toasted coconut for a finishing touch…now that’s just a life saver for us non-cake-decorating-types. Hides all the crumbs. And bumps. And gaps. And mismatched, mis-sized cakes. I mean, it’s not what it looks like that counts…it’s how it tastes right?! 😉
Throw on some little toothpick sparklers…and your cake is gorgeous and ready for a New Years partaaaaaay! This cake would also be great for your New Years Day dinner or a birthday! (I made these pretty little embellishments with inspiration from a tutorial over at The 36th Avenue blog!) So fun! That’s it, that’s all. Coconut deliciousness!
Coconut Dream Cake
Ingredients
The Cake:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup butter (at room temperature)
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 eggs (separated (keep both the yolks and the whites))
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
The Icing:
- 1 1/2 packages of cream cheese (at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp coconut extract
- 4 cups icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
The Finishing Touch:
- 3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut (toasted. See below for instruction.)
Instructions
Prepping the Cake Pans:
- Lightly grease the inside edges of 3, 8-inch cake pans, then cut out circles of parchment or wax paper to line the bottom of the pans. Set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
The Cake:
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
- Then beat in the egg yolks, and vanilla, until well mixed.
- Add the flour mix, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Stir in the coconut.
- Then in a clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold the egg whites into the cake batter.
- Divide the batter between the 3, 8-inch cake pans, then bake for 25-35 minutes (depending on your oven), or until a toothpick that is inserted in the centres come out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely before you ice them.
Making the Icing and Filling:
- First you need to toast some coconut. Take the 3/4 cup coconut, and toast it in a frying pan on your stove. Just have your pan dry (no oil or butter) and turn the heat onto medium, and stir the coconut constantly until it is golden brown. When it is done, set it aside and cool completely.
- Cream together the cream cheese and butter, until smooooth.
- Add the vanilla and coconut extract. Blend.
- Slowly add the icing sugar, and mix until the icing is smooth.
- Separate the icing into 2 batches: One batch is for the top and outside of the cake, and the second batch is for the filling.
- To one batch, add the 3/4 cup coconut. Mix.
Icing the Cake:
- Once the cakes have cooled completely, it’s time to ice them!
- Lay one cake onto a pretty serving plate, then using the icing with the coconut, spread 1/2 of the mixture evenly onto the top.
- Then lay another cake down onto the iced cake, and spread the remaining filling.
- Lay on the top cake, and use the remaining icing to completely cover the cake.
- Once the cake is iced, use the toasted coconut to cover the outside edges of the cake.
- Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from The Looneyspoons.
I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year! May this upcoming year be your best!
See you in the New Year!
Such a fabulous cake, perfect for the occasion! 🙂 Happy New Year!
Thank you Sheryl!
Love coconut cake and this one is just beautiful.
Thanks for the recipe…are you calling powdered sugar, icing sugar ?
Thanks….
This looks delicious! I also love all the white. I’m all about white in January (and most other moths, actually). Thanks for sharing. We’ll be trying this one tonight! Have a great day!
Your cake looks great thank you so much for linking back to the tutorial. You are awesome!
Found you via the Create & Inspire party! This looks so amazing!! Can’t wait to try out the recipe!
Megan
That looks amazing! I have a friend who is IN LOVE with coconut and has a birthday coming up in February! I think I’ll make this for him!!
Tania
What a beautiful cake! It looks a lot like an Italian Cream Cake but whatever the name, it looks so festive and delicious!
Your cake looks AMAZING! Saw you featured at Happy Hour. I’m printing and saving this recipe!
YUM! What a beautiful cake. I’m all about toppers instead of icing decor too, love the sparklers!!
Help please; whatbif you have a person with cheese allergies? Ncan something be substituted for the cream cheeese in thevicing?
Hi Susan! You could use a recipe for a vanilla buttercream icing instead…Here’s one that I use all the time, but for this cake just leave out the cherries…
https://aprettylifeinthesuburbs.com/vanilla-cupcakes-with-cherry-butter/
Happy Baking!
Jo-Anna
Thank you Jo-Anna! Having this cheese allergy has stopped me from trying so many things.