Sunday 2 June 2013

Coconut Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I like my coconut in chocolate and cakes. Moist, fluffy, soft, tangy and not overbearingly sweet are the words to describe this cake. It's simply delicious. I knew something was missing after I finished frosting the cake as it looked a bit too plain. Luckily I had some flaked almonds and coconut shreds to give me a beautiful mess on top of the cake.

Coconut Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

(adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes)

250g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 teaspoon coconut essence (I didn't use this)
4 eggs
1 cup (80g) dessicated coconut
3 cups self raising flour
250g sour cream
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease and flour two 18cm round cake tins.

2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in coconut essence and beat until incorporated then add in eggs one at a time.

3. Add half of the dry ingredients (flour and coconut) followed by wet ingredients (sour cream and milk) and mix until just combined. Add the remaining dry and wet ingredients. Make sure to not overmix.

4. Separate the batter evenly into the two greased tins and bake for 45-50 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

250g cream cheese
25g butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup thickened cream

Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the lemon zest then gradually add in the icing sugar and beat until incorporated. Using clean beaters, beat the cream until stiff peaks form then add to the cream cheese mixture and mix until smooth. Sandwich icing between the two cake layers and crumb coat the cake with icing. Use the remaining icing to cover the cake completely.