Coconut Cake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting

Despite the fact that I am not much of a baker (Number two son tells me to stop saying this, assuring me that I bake more than his wife does, and she considers herself to be a baker.) I was missing my dad mightily over the weekend, remembering how much he loved coconut cake. I figured that he would love it particularly if it were topped with Coconut Buttercream Frosting, so I set to work and came up with this one. He would have loved it, and my guess is that the cake lovers in your family will too.

This one’s for you, dad.

Coconut Cake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting

For the cake:
1 c. flour
1¾ c. cake flour
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1¾ c. sugar
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. cream of coconut
4 eggs, separated
1 t. clear vanilla flavoring
1 t. coconut extract
1 c. buttermilk
Pinch of salt
1 14-oz. pkg. sweetened shredded coconut
Coconut Buttercream Frosting (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray 2 9-inch cake pans with Baker’s Joy; set aside.

Whisk together flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend.

In an electric stand mixer, beat together sugar, butter, and cream of coconut until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, along with extracts. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour.

In a medium bowl, with clean beaters, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Fold beaten egg whites into batter. Divide batter between two pans and bake about 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, and then invert onto racks to cool completely.

Frost with Coconut Buttercream Frosting. When doing the center layer, sprinkle ½ cup coconut on top of the frosting before topping with other layer. Coat entire cake, top and sides, with shredded coconut.

Coconut Buttercream Frosting

4½ c. confectioners’ sugar
11 T. (1 stick, 3 T.) butter, softened
2 t. clear vanilla flavoring
1½ t. coconut extract
2-4 T. whole milk

In the work bowl of a stand mixer, beat together sugar and butter until creamy. Add remaining ingredients, and be at high-speed for six minutes until light and fluffy. Fin with more milk, if needed.

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If you prefer your coconut in cheesecake form, you will love this Coconut Cream Cheesecake. It was one of my dad’s favorites.

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