I love a good Coconut Cake but since it’s not one of my wife’s favorites, I always use Easter as an excuse to make one of my all-time favorite cakes.
At first glance, it might look like some serious skills to make this cake but trust me this cake was not hard to make. I’m not a baker by trade, I bake because I enjoy it. Baking is therapeutic for me, and I love eating the results!
After the first slice of my coconut layer cake, it was a “stop me before I eat too much” moment. The cake layers with a moist crumb and mascarpone frosting was almost too good. I had thought about making a coconut cream cheese frosting, but the mascarpone made a lighter version and didn’t take away from the coconut.
What Ingredients do I need to make a Coconut Cake?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my Coconut Cake. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How do I make a coconut cake?
Let’s start with a disclaimer, I love coconut but I also know some people don’t so I make a compromise with my coconut cake making a yellow cake that includes coconut. You can, of course, make a few adjustments(which I’ve included in the recipe) and have a more coconut flavor in the cake as well as the frosting.
- add the butter, sugar, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl
- cream the butter mixture until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes
- add the eggs in one at a time to the butter mixture
- beat well after each addition (make sure to scrape down the bowl between each step)
- add one-third of the flour to the wet ingredients.
- Mix together just enough to combine.
- add half the milk, and mix just enough to incorporate.
- repeat the process until you’ve added the last third of the flour (scrape down the bowl frequently)
*If you’d like more coconut flavor in the cake, substitute coconut milk for the milk.
- pour the batter into greased and floured or parchment lined 9-inch cake pans and smooth out the batter.
- bake for 25 – 30 minutes in a 350-degree preheated oven on the middle rack (or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan).
- allow the layers to cool on wire racks (in the pan) for 10 minutes, then turn out the cakes and continue cooling on wire racks until completely cooled.
How do I make mascarpone frosting?
- add the mascarpone and butter to a mixing bowl.
- whip until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes)
- slowly add the 10 x sugar, one-third at a time, mixing well and scraping down the bowl after each addition.
- add the vanilla extract and mix until fully blended
*If you’d like more coconut flavor in the frosting, substitute half of the vanilla (or all the vanilla) with coconut extract.
Can I use cream cheese instead of mascarpone to make the frosting?
Yes, you can, and it will be every bit as delicious. I just prefer the lighter flavor of mascarpone. You can even use half cream cheese and half mascarpone.
How do I assemble and decorate a Coconut Cake for Easter?
- place the first layer on a cake stand or plate.
- spread one cup of frosting on top of the first layer.
- place the second layer on top of the frosted first layer and spread a small amount of frosting over the entire cake, making a light coating. This is your crumb coat. Refrigerate for 20 minutes, then apply frosting to the entire cake with an even coat.
- add the remaining frosting into a pastry bag, and using the star tip, make little flour shapes by squeezing out the frosting and pulling up. Go around the top of the cake with large flowers and around the bottom of the cake with smaller flowers
- Place green coconut on the top of the cake inside the circle of flowers.
- Place candy robin eggs on top and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving
*You could also use this recipe to make a sheet cake and have more room to decorate on top of the cake.
This was a delicious cake, and it’s a lot easier to decorate than you think!
These are the kitchen tools I recommend for making my Easter Cake.
Recipe FAQ’s:
Adding extra eggs or yolks will ensure that your cake comes out extra moist, light, and rich.
When someone is talking about a Vanilla Cake, they could be talking about either a white cake or a yellow cake. If the cake batter contains egg yolks, then it’s a yellow cake. If it only contains egg whites, it’s a white cake.
Yes, you can. Coconut milk is a 1:1 substitute as long as you don’t mind the coconut flavor. Cream of coconut is not the same thing and will not work with this recipe.
More Cake Recipes You’ll Love!
My Coconut Easter Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 6 oz butter (1 ½ sticks or 12 tablespoons)-room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs -room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks -room temperature
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cup milk -room temperature
Mascarpone frosting
- 12 oz mascarpone -room temperature
- 6 oz butter (1 ½ sticks) -room temperature
- 4 teaspoon vanilla -you can replace two teaspoons of vanilla extract with two teaspoons of coconut extract for more coconut flavor.
- 6 cups powdered sugar
Coconut
- 4 ounces flake coconut I used sweetened but unsweeted can be used.
- 3-4 drops green food coloring -enough to get the color green you want
- 12 ounces your favorite robin egg candy
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt and baking powder until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes
- add the eggs in one at a time to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition. (make sure to scrape down the bowl between each step)
- Add ⅓ of the flour, then half the milk, and repeat the process until you’ve added the last third of the flour. (scrape down the bowl frequently)
- Pour the batter into greased and floured or parchment lined 9 inch baking pans and smooth out batter.
- Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Allow to cool on wire racks for 10 minutes, then turn out the cakes and continue cooling on wire racks until completely cooled.
Frosting
- mix together mascarpone and butter and whip until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes)
- Slowly add the 10 x sugar, one third at a time, mixing well and scraping down the bowl after each addition.
- Add vanilla and mix until fully blended
Assembly
- Place the first layer on a cake stand or plate. Spread one cup of frosting on the first layer. Add the second layer on top of the frosted first layer.
- Spread a small amount of frosting over the entire cake making a light coating, this is your crumb coat. Refrigerate for 20 minutes then apply frosting to the entire cake with an even coat.
- Place frosting into a pastry bag, and using the star tip make little flour shapes by squeezing out the frosting and pulling up. Go around the top of the cake with large flowers, and around the bottom of the cake with smaller flowers
- mix 4 or 5 drops of green food coloring to the coconut (or more if you want it darker) and mix until all the coconut is the same shade of green
- Place green coconut on the top of the cake inside of the circle of flowers.
- Place candy robin eggs on top and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
Khushboo Motihar says
I love the idea of adding coconut to a traditional Easter cake! Such a lovely recipe that is easy to follow 🙂
Beeb Ashcroft says
I’m in LOVE with this spring cake! It definitely sounds easy enough that I would love to give it a shot!
Tiffany La Forge-Grau says
It seems like their video really helped. It turned out to be such a cute cake!
cait says
this looks like such a great job my friend i could never try something like this ha im not the best baker but i def love to try all the sweets!
Mia Voss says
Wow, this recipe was easy to follow and the cake was amazing.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks Mia, it was a delicious cake
Olga Riofrio says
Adorable cake and was so yummy.
Suz says
Chef
I can not tell you how relived I was to hear about you being spot on in the first six courses of a meal. I nearly failed my entire degree because I and the baking course never did mesh, just isn’t my thing. But hand me any protein, fresh produce and spices and I’m your gal! You have continued to inspire this old chef and I can not thank you enough for all you do for the cooking community. It was just so welcoming to know someone else struggled through baked goods!
Yes you are correct about KAF, they make even not so good bakers like us turn out beautiful recipes, been my fav for years!
Chef Dennis Littley says
it definitely has been a struggle Suz, but it did become fun for me eventually. I am by no means a great baker, but now I have fun doing it!
IJASAN MICHAEL JASON says
You talked about refrigerating for 20 minutes before the final frosting. What if the cake is not to be eaten the same day and it is to be delivered to a client. How do I go about it
Chef Dennis Littley says
Just follow the instructions and when you’re done, refrigerate the finished cake until delivery.
Anne - Just Only Home says
This cake was SO good!
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks Anne, it was pretty darn tasty!
Maria says
Happy Easter! I love mascarpone frosting! Yum! I have a really great coconut cake recipe that I bet your mascarpone frosting would go perfectly with! Also, your decorations are adorable. The kids would think all these colors are so fun. I’m boring and never really decorate cakes thematically, but you are making me want to make an exception;)
Chef Dennis Littley says
Happy Easter! I have to tell you that when it comes to cake decorating I’m not very skilled so I’m sure you can make something equally if not better. I worked with a baker that used candy and frosting to cover up all her mistakes and everyone thought she was brilliant!
The Ninja Baker says
Fantastic tips Chef Dennis! Great point about keeping the butter soft but not too soft. Wilton’s parchment circles are on the wish list =) Ps. With your gorgeous pumpkin fall cake wonder, I definitely consider you a cake connoisseur =)
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you found it helpful Kim
Kolay Yemek Tarifleri says
Thank you Dennis. Your recipe shows that decoration of a cake is, at least, as important as taste of it. I am happy to say the cake turned out well and was delicious.
Allie says
I think you did great— it’s not easy making cake, and that’s coming from a pastry chef! butter and eggs need to be at room temp for sure, but I also find that if the butter is still slightly cold and you begin creaming it, and you do too much by accident (which happens!) then it’s not such a tragedy. And man how awesome is it that you got all these awesome KAF goodies? Jealous! Btw, it’s been a while since I’ve been immersed into the food blogosphere, and I’m so glad yours was the first blog I wanted to get reacquainted with. Thanks for being great!
Chef Dennis says
hi Allie
I’m glad you liked the cake, and at least now I have an idea why they have problems when they do thanks to the video they sent me!
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen says
You have outdone yourself!
Chef Dennis says
Thanks Katrina, I had fun trying to use some of the techniques I used from the DVD
Dionne Baldwin says
They have pre-cut parchment paper?! Where have I been???
Gorgeous cake, friend. And I bet that DVD was very educational. Cakes seem so easy when we find some recipes on the web, but when something vital is altered it can be such a disaster. (sigh)
I love sweets. I could limit the first courses for dessert!
Yasmeen @ Wandering Spice says
Looks like just the right amount of icing in the center! I prefer cakes to be subtly frosted so yours fits my bill. Well done with your cake decorating – it’s no easy feat but yours looks lovely and very seasonal. How thoughtful of KAF to include some handy tips!
Chef Dennis says
Thank you Yasmeen! It was a wonderful cake for the season, and the video did provide a lot of insight to things that have gone wrong when I bake.