Coconut Velvet Cake
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Coconut Velvet Cake. Beautifully moist & tender, flavoured with coconut milk & extract, then covered in coconut marshmallow frosting & dried coconut.
Originally published Nov 2014.
I'd been planning to develop a recipe for this coconut velvet cake for a long time and finally got around to it recently.
It had been on my mind ever since the runaway success of my recipe for Lemon Velvet Cake . Actually for the success of my entire collection of Velvet Cake Recipes.
Because of the fat content in the coconut milk some of the fat and liquid ingredients in the cake needed tweaking. That's so the tender crumb structure would be maintained and I think I got the balance just right.
I chose not to add coconut to the cake batter, instead relying on the rich flavour of coconut milk. That, and the added boost of pure coconut extract for extra flavour.
You can add some dried coconut to the batter if you wanted but use fine cut, unsweetened if you do. ¼ to ⅓ of a cup should be enough.
Three people always come to mind every time I make a new coconut recipe, my mom, my son and my friend Nancy. All of them are complete coconut lovers and would highly approve of this delicious cake.
Be sure to check out the other flavours in our entire collection of Velvet Cake Recipes!
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Coconut Velvet Cake
Coconut Velvet Cake - A beautifully moist and tender crumbed cake, flavoured with coconut milk and extract, then covered in a coconut marshmallow frosting and covered in a generous garnish of dried coconut.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1¼ cups sifted all purpose flour
- 1½ cups sifted cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups sugar
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup vegetable shortening at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon pure coconut extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ cups coconut milk
- ¼ cup milk
- Approximately ¼ to ⅓ of a cup dried coconut to add to the batter, (optional)
For the Frosting
- 4 egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tarter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ teaspoon pure coconut extract
- 1¼ cups sugar
- ½ cup corn syrup
- ¼ cup water
- Approximately 1 cup dried coconut, (sweetened or unsweetened, your choice)
Instructions
To make the cake
- Grease and flour 2 nine inch round cake pans and line the bottom with 2 circles of parchment paper. Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar, Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the vegetable oil, shortening, vanilla and coconut extract. Beat well at high speed with whisk attachment until light and fluffy
- Beat the eggs in one at a time.
- Mix together the milk and coconut milk.
- Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the coconut milk mixture.
- I always add dry ingredients in three divisions and liquid ingredients in 2 divisions. It is very important to begin and end the additions with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. As soon as it has no lumps in the batter, pour into the two prepared 9 inch cake pans.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
To prepare the Coconut Marshmallow Frosting
- In a small saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup and water.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer or when a teaspoonful of the mixture dropped into ice water forms a soft ball that holds its shape when cool.
- Whip the egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla and coconut extracts to soft peaks in a large bowl.
- With the mixer on medium high speed, slowly begin to pour the sugar syrup down the side of the egg white bowl in a thin continuous stream.
- Continue to whip the frosting until it forms stiff peaks.
- Frost your cake immediately with this frosting while it is still slightly warm as it is easier to spread smoothly than if allowed to cool completely.
- Immediately cover the top and sides of the cake with the dried coconut. You can use sweetened coconut here if you like. Toasted coconut is good if you use unsweetened dried coconut. The sweetened coconut tends to burn more easily when toasted. To toast unsweetened coconut, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spread the coconut on a baking sheet. Bake for about 5 -7 minutes or until the coconut begins to turn golden brown. I like to toss the coconut once or twice during the baking tome to ensure even browning.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1 sliceAmount Per Serving Calories 534Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 50mgSodium 354mgCarbohydrates 84gFiber 1gSugar 58gProtein 6g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Hi! Just wanted to clarify something. In the introduction you said, "Because of the fat content in the coconut oil some of the fat and liquid ingredients in the cake needed tweaking"... did you mean fat in the coconut milk? Just asking since the ingredients call for vegetable oil, not coconut oil. Hope that makes sense! This cake sounds like delightful 🙂
Yes, that was a typo, I did mean coconut milk but it's been fixed now. Thanks for catching that. B.
Thank you for the nice recipe.
I adore your Velvet cakes recipes.
Linda
We love coconut, but we aren't big fans of frosting. If I made this cake with some coconut in the batter, do you think it could be done in a 9x13 pan or maybe a bundt pan? It sounds like the cake could stand on it's own without the frosting & still be great tasting!
Hi,
I make a cake very similar to this awesome cake.i make it in a tube pan and instead of icing it I glaze it while it is still very slightly warm.
Glaze: whisk together 2 tablespoons of coconut milk with 1/2 tsp coconut extract.Add 1/2 -1cup of icing sugar until desired consistency.Drizzle over cake. I like to sprinkle with some toasted coconut AND to really impress drizzle with some chocolate ganache! It's great.
Sounds great!
HI Mary,
I read your blog about the coconut glaze you make which sounds yummy...and my English husband loves anything chocolate and coconut together so adding the chocolate ganache sounds amazing! Can you suggest the recipe you use for your cake, it would be greatly appreciated.
I'm trying to remember where I mentioned a coconut glaze? On this recipe?
Any way to tweak this for a diabetic? Looking for birthday cake recipe for a friend. Thanks 🙂
I'm afraid, that's not my area at all. Sorry.
Because coconut milk comes in cans and refrigerated, can I assume you used canned coconut milk?
I did use canned. We don't get the refrigerated brands here. 🙁
Yes, please! Feel free to ship a whole pie to DC!
Are the flours sifted before or after measuring?
I usually spoon the flour into the measuring cup so as not to compact it. Then sift after measuring. I find sifting before measuring can result in too little flour for many recipes, especially cakes and cookies.
I assume coconut essence can be substituted for coconut extract. I can't find anything but the essence here. I guess I will let you know tomorrow. !
Could you tweak a cake mix with the coconut milk and add the extracts instead of from scratch? I love scratch cakes but I don't always have cake flour on hand
I haven't used a cake mix in decades. I know nothing about them, I'm afraid.
This sounds and looks wonderful.Im in need of a coconut cake for this weekend.Ill be making yours.I want to use buttercream and decorate it.Will this cake hold up fro that?
Buttercream should be fine. Sounds delicious.
Hi Barry, I've made both your black and white velvet cakes before, which earned rave reviews and were a stupendous success.
Now I've been asked for a tiered coconut cake and would love to make this one (and have already worked out the various quantities) - but would it work as a tiered cake, or is it too delicate? Would dowel & cardboard it, and might go buttercream rather than marshmallow frosting - but what do you think? Thanks so much!
Seems a little delicate to hold any weight for me. You need a stand that bears all the weight.
When you say "dry coconut", are you talking about the normal flaked coconut that comes in a bag or are you talking about dessicated coconut which has absolutely no moisture in it?!
Dessicated.
I'm going to try making this with coconut oil instead of the shortening and oil combination, and skip the extract.
Recipe updated with option to add a little coconut to the batter.
Im wondering if I can sub coconut cream for the coconut milk?thoughts?