COCONUT CREAM CAKE

MAKES One 9 inch layer • SERVES 8 to 10 • OVEN TEMPERATURE 350˚F/175˚C

BAKING TIME 30 to 40 minutes

This is our favorite coconut cake: impossibly fluffy and tender, mounded with a billowy cloud
of coconut-imbued, unsweetened whipped cream, and then crowned generously with sweetened
coconut flakes. It provides a gentle explosion of coconut flavor, accentuated with a light spray
of sweetness. It is at its most ethereal when prepared à la minute: bake it, cool it, top it with
whipped cream and coconut, call the neighbors, and eat it! The cake is still wonderful without
the powdered coconut cream in the whipped cream topping, but it adds an extra dimension and
is well worth sourcing. This cake is dedicated to our editor, Cassie, whose husband, Cal, adores

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it—with love and appreciation.

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SPECIAL EQUIPMENT One 9 × 2 inch round pan, encircled with a cake strip, bottom coated
with shortening, topped with a parchment round, then coated with baking spray with flour
or
BATTER: 700 GRAMS / EGG WHITES AND BUTTER AT ROOM TEMPERATURE (65˚ TO 75˚F/19˚ TO 23˚C)
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3 large egg whites 90 grams ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (89 ml)
canned cream of coconut (see 190 grams ⅔ cup (158 ml), processed in a food processor
Pointers for Success) before measuring, divided
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pure vanilla extract 5 grams 1 teaspoon (5 ml)

coconut extract 5 grams 1 teaspoon (5 ml)
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sugar, preferably superfine 87 grams ½ cup minus 1 tablespoon

desiccated unsweetened grated 35 grams ½ cup
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coconut
bleached cake flour (see 200 grams 2 cups (sifted into the cup and leveled off)

BUTTER AND OIL CAKES

Pointers for Success)
baking powder 10 grams 2¼ teaspoons
fine sea salt 3 grams ½ teaspoon
unsalted butter 113 grams 8 tablespoons (1 stick)

PREHEAT THE OVEN Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower
third of the oven. Set the oven at 350˚F/175˚C.
MIX THE LIQUID INGREDIENTS In a 2 cup/500 ml glass measure with a spout, whisk the egg
whites, 53 grams/3 tablespoons/45 ml of the cream of coconut, and the vanilla and coconut
extracts until lightly combined.
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 MAKE THE BATTER In a food processor, process the sugar and coconut until the coconut is
powder fine. Add it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater. Add the flour, bak-
ing powder, and salt and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and remaining 137
grams of cream of coconut. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise
the speed to medium and beat for 1½ minutes. Scrape down the sides.
Starting on low speed, gradually add the egg white mixture in two parts, beating on me-
dium speed for 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen
the structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small offset
spatula. The pan will be half full.
BAKE THE CAKE Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a wire cake tester inserted in the center
comes out clean and just starts coming away from the sides of the pan. It will be underbaked in
the center if it is removed before it starts shrinking. The cake is so fluffy that it will not spring

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back readily when pressed in the center. Because it is so wondrously tender, the top will dip

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slightly on cooling.
COOL THE CAKE Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a small metal

or
spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake, pressing firmly against the pan, and invert
it onto a wire rack that has been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. Peel off the parch
parch-
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ment and, to prevent splitting, reinvert the cake so that the top is facing up. Cool completely.
FINISHED HEIGHT
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• 1⅝ inches
STORE Airtight: room temperature, 3 days; refrigerated, 1 week; frozen, 3 months
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POINTERS FOR SUCCESS

• I love
ve the flavor and incredibly tender texture offered by the cream of coconut,
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but it requires bleached cake flour to prevent serious dipping in the center.
• Be suree to use cream of coconut and not coconut cream, which has much more
fat. Cream of coconut contains solid coconut oil and needs to be processed in
the food processor until smooth or thoroughly whisked to break it up into small
pieces.
• If you want to top the cake with whipped cream more than 30 minutes before
serving, you will need to stabilize the whipped cream (pages 422 to 423)
to enable it to stand for up to several hours at room temperature without
CAKES

watering out.

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 UNDERSTANDING
Compared to one layer of the basic White Velvet Butter Cake, cream of coconut
replaces an equal volume of the whole milk. The cream of coconut contains
36 grams more fat and almost 100 grams less water. It also contains 114 grams
of sugar, which is removed from the rest of the sugar. About ¼ teaspoon more
baking powder is added to compensate for the structure added by the grated
coconut. The resulting cake is even more tender.
This coconut cake is not as moist when held for several days as the variation
below because of the slightly drying effect of the dried coconut and the low
liquid/high fat content of the cream of coconut. The grated coconut, however,
gives it extra coconut flavor and the higher fat content a meltingly tender
texture.

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Variation
or
COCONUT MILK CAKE This cake is also very delicious with coconut milk in place of cream
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of coconut, and it does not dip in the center. You can also double the recipe to make a great
layer cake, filled and frosted with a coconut-flavored
coconut-fla
coconut-fla buttercream.
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• Substitute 163 grams/⅔ cup/158 ml canned coconut milk (stirr

(stirred well before
measuring) for the cream of coconut.
• Increase
ease the sugar to 200 grams/1 cup.
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ease the baking powder to 11.25 grams/2½

• Increase grams/2 teaspoons.
• You
ou can also use the same weight of bleached all-
all-purpose flour instead of the cake
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flour (the volume is only 1¾ cups).

BUTTER AND OIL CAKES

COMPLEMENTARY ADORNMENTS
• Top the cake with mounded coconut whipped cream and sprinkle evenly with
the flaked coconut. Serve immediately. Be prepared to swoon.
• Whip 348 grams/1½ cups/355 ml heavy cream with 32 grams/¼ cup of
powdered coconut cream until soft peaks form when the beater is raised.
• 85 grams/1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

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