Coconut Cake With Meringue Frosting Recipes

COCONUT LAYER CAKE WITH SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven and prep pans: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2, 9 inch cake pans. Cover bottoms with a round of parchment to fit. Grease again. Coat pans in flour, tapping out excess.
• 2. Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
• 3. Beat fats and sugar: Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat over medium speed for about 5-7 minutes or until light and fluffy. Gradually pour in melted coconut oil while blending until emulsified. Transfer to another large bowl, if needed to whip egg whites.
• 4. Whip egg whites: Add egg whites to a clean bowl of the standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip over medium high speed for 5-7 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
• 5. Mix wet and dry ingredients: While egg whites whip, combine milks and extracts in a bowl. Starting with the flour mixture, alternate adding 1/3 of dry followed by 1/3 of wet ingredients to butter and sugar mixture until fully combined. Do not over mix. If desired, start with ¼ tsp of coconut extract and add more to taste.
• 6. Fold in whites: Add 1/3 of egg whites to cake batter and stir to combine. Gently fold in remaining whites.
• 7. Bake: Separate batter evenly among prepared pans, using a scale, if desired. Tap on counter top a number of times to flatten top of batter and knock out any large air bubbles. I suggest baking cakes on sheet trays for easier transport. Depending on how your oven heats, you can bake both cakes on the center rack and rotate more than half way through once cakes begin to set up. Alternatively (this worked better for my oven), you can bake the cakes in the center of the oven with racks positioned in the upper and lower 3rds, rotating after cakes begin to set up. If you move cakes too early, they may collapse. Bake for a total of 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• 8. Cool: Remove cooked cakes from oven and cool over a wire rack. After 15 minutes, use a small offset spatula to loosen sides of cake. Position rack on top of cake and invert onto rack. Peel off parchment and cool completely.
• 9. Start buttercream: Combine egg whites and granulated sugar in bowl of standing mixer. Bring one inch of water to a simmer in a pot which the bowl can sit on top of without touching the water. Whisk egg whites and sugar constantly over simmering water for about 4-6 minutes or until sugar dissolves and mixture reaches 115°F.
• 10. Whip: Transfer bowl to mixer fitted with whisk attachment and whip over medium-high speed for about 5 minutes or until stiff, glossy peaks form. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in powdered sugar. Continue to mix until cooled to room temperature.
• 11. Add butter: Gradually add softened butter, 1 teaspoon at a time, while mixing over medium speed until fully incorporated. Continue to beat even if mixture appears liquidy or chunky, as it will eventually come together. Stir in extracts and salt. The buttercream may be refrigerated up to three days if not using immediately. After refrigeration, bring buttercream to room temperature and whip in standing mixer with a paddle attachment until original texture is regained.
• 12. Cut cakes: When cakes cool completely, slice in half horizontally using a large serrated cake knife. To do this, I placed the cake on a cardboard cake round on top of a rotating cake stand. Place a damp paper towel underneath of the cardboard to keep it in place.
• 13. Decorate: Spread one cup of frosting over the bottom layer of the cake until evenly distributed. Top with second layer of cake and repeat. Repeat again with third layer. Trim top or sides of cake to even out, if needed. Frost top and sides of cake with a thin layer of buttercream for the crumb coat. Refrigerate cake about 30-60 minutes, leaving remaining frosting at room temperature. Remove from fridge and continue to frost, starting on the top and then working on the sides. Lightly pat on coconut flakes to top and sides of cake.
• 14. Serve: Serve cake at room temperature. Slice and enjoy.

COCONUT MERINGUE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x9-inch baking pan.
• Beat butter and 1/2 cup white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks.
• Combine flour, baking powder and salt in bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in two parts, alternating with milk and vanilla, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spread in the prepared pan.
• To Make Topping: Beat egg whites until soft peaks form; add 1/2 cup of the white sugar gradually, and beat until egg whites are stiff. Fold in the coconut. Put spoonfuls here and there over batter, smoothing as best you can.
• Bake in preheated oven until meringue topping starts to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

COCONUT CAKE WITH MERINGUE FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-9-by-2-inch cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper. Butter parchment and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Place shredded coconut in bowl of a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Stir chopped coconut into flour mixture until combined; set aside.
• Beat together butter and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down side of bowl as needed. Add whole eggs, egg whites, and vanilla; beat until fluffy and combined. With mixer on low, add flour mixture, alternating with coconut milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, mixing well after each addition.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes.
• Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 30 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off parchment paper. Reinvert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up, then wrap individually in plastic wrap. Transfer to freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cake layers to make them level. Place one layer on a cake plate; spread top with 1 1/2 cups meringue. Top with remaining layer, cut side up. Using offset spatula, spread remaining frosting over entire cake, swirling to cover in a decorative fashion. Sprinkle entire cake with coconut curls, bending and curling as desired. Cake can be kept refrigerated, covered with a cake dome, up to 3 days.

COCONUT MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Whisk egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water until sugar has dissolved and mixture registers 160 degrees, about 3 minutes.
• Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until cooled, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add butter; beat until pale and fluffy. Mix in cream of coconut and extract.

OLD FASHIONED COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans.
• Beat butter and margarine together using an electric mixer in a bowl until creamy. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy.
• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl.
• Add eggs one at a time to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with coconut milk and vanilla extract, beating after each addition until smooth. Pour about 2 1/3 cups batter into each prepared cake pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cake layers cool in pans for 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely, about 30 minutes more.
• Stir sour cream, sugar, coconut, and milk together in a bowl until filling is well blended.
• Remove one cake layer from the pan and invert onto a cake plate. Poke holes approximately 1-inch apart using the end of a wooden spoon until entire cake has been poked. Spread 1/3 of the filling on the cake layer. Top with second layer; repeat process. Top with last layer and repeat process again.
• Combine sugar and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Heat the pot over boiling water, stirring with a wire whisk until all sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Transfer sugar mixture to the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat using the wire attachment until soft peaks form. Switch to the paddle attachment. Pour in vanilla extract and salt. Beat in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until fully incorporated. Beat until meringue reaches a thick buttercream consistency. Spread onto cake. Decorate with coconut as desired.

COCONUT CAKE WITH 7-MINUTE FROSTING

Steps:

• For the cake:
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil 2 (9-inch) cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Oil the parchment paper and then flour the pan. Set aside.
• Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
• Combine the coconut milk and coconut cream in small bowl and set aside.
• Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, cream on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the sugar slowly over 1 to 2 minutes. Once all of the sugar has been added, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Turn the mixer back on to medium speed and continue creaming until the mixture noticeably lightens in texture and increases slightly in volume, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the coconut extract.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture to the butter and sugar in 3 batches, ending with the milk mixture. Do not over mix.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter, just until combined. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bang the pans on the counter top several times to remove any air and to distribute the batter evenly in the pan. Place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is light golden in color and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.
• Cool the cake in the pans for 10 minutes then remove and transfer to a cooling rack. Once the cakes have cooled completely cut across the equator of each to form 4 layers. Place the 1/3 cup coconut water into a small spritz bottle and spray evenly onto the cut side of the 4 layers. If you do not have a spritz bottle you may brush the coconut water on with a silicone pastry brush. Allow to sit while preparing the frosting.
• For the frosting:
• Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a 4-quart saucepan over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium to maintain a steady simmer. In the meantime, place the egg whites, sugar, coconut water, cream of tartar and salt into a medium size-mixing bowl. Place the bowl over the simmering water and immediately begin beating with an electric hand mixer set to low speed. Beat for 1 minute and then increase the speed to high and continue to beat for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat in the coconut and vanilla extracts for 1 minute. Allow the frosting to sit for 5 minutes before using.
• Place approximately 3/4 cup of the frosting on the first layer of cake, sprinkle with 1/2 cup coconut and top with the next layer. Repeat until you reach the top layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake and sprinkle with the remaining coconut. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.