Caveat: This post only has one picture and it’s pretty dismal as I accidentally deleted the rest of the pictures on my phone. So, you may need to put on your imagination caps a bit for this one. My apologies. Regardless, this cake was super delicious and perfect for Mother’s Day coming up. This recipe is for the cake only which I could have eaten plain with a little powdered sugar on top. I just made a traditional coconut icing which was tasty but the cake is the real star here. The completely ridiculous thing is that the one picture I DO have showcases the icing, not the cake! Oy vey.
Trust me when I tell you the cake is moist and delicious, light and airy with a nice coconut flavor. This recipe uses a full can of coconut milk which makes it super tasty. Traditionally I make a tiered coconut cake, so this sheet pan version was a nice change, and would be great for a large group.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 cake pan. Beat sugar, butter and egg yolks together with a mixer in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Add in shredded coconut and combine.
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Beat together the creamed butter mixture, alternating with the coconut milk, into the flour batter until everything is combined nicely.
Beat egg whites in a glass or metal bowl until soft peaks form. The peaks should be soft mounds as opposed to shark peaks. Gently fold egg whites into the cake batter and pour everything into your prepared cake pan.
Bake in the oven until a toothpick comes out clean. My parents oven where I was making this run hots so it only took about 25 minutes. It may be closer to 40 or 45 for you. I’d check every 5 minutes after 25 minutes for your oven. It seemed to bake very quickly!
That’s it! A simple, delicious cake that stands out for the lovely coconut flavors of shredded coconut and coconut milk. Feel free to frost with your favorite frosting. Tip: I took a bunch of sweetened shredded coconut and mixed it with some butter in a pan on the stove to get those browned delicious bits of coconut flakes you see on top of the icing. Just be sure to set the browned buttery coconut on paper towels to absorb the leftover butter before scattering on top of the cake. It makes it!
Definitely a winner in my book! If you love coconut cake, I’d encourage you to try this! Happy eating!
KristinKooks 