Lemon Coconut Cake

Soft and fluffy Lemon Coconut Cake made with coconut flavored cake, layered with homemade Lemon Curd, frosted with easy Cream Cheese Frosting and topped with more coconut!

Try my fluffiest Lemon Blueberry Muffins next! Find all Summer Desserts from Greedy Eats here.

Taste and Texture:

1. Soft and fluffy cake filled with coconut flavors
2. Layers with sweet and tangy Lemon curd (made in microwave)
3. Topped with creamy and sweet Cream Cheese Frosting
4. Then the cake is covered in sweetened coconut flakes

If you love lemon cake and coconut, you have come to the right place. Coconut Cake with lemon curd is my absolute favorite Spring dessert. Bright and light, sweet and citrusy. What's not to love!!

Recipe Ingredients:

Egg Whites: We won't need egg yolks for this batter. Nope, not even one! Instead we will use them all to make fresh lemon curd at home.

Cake Flour: Cake flour produces a tender crumb cake. Do not substitute it with all purpose flour. You can use homemade cake flour though.

Baking Powder: To lift the cake while baking.

Extracts: We are using just vanilla extract in this recipe. If you like you may add a teaspoon of coconut extract reducing vanilla. A little almond extract in addition to vanilla also tastes wonderful here.  

Shredded Coconut: I used shredded sweetened coconut. You may also opt for unsweetened if you desire.

How to make Coconut Cake:

1. Begin by preparing the Lemon Curd so that it can cool off while the cake bakes. You will require 1 ½ cups of curd for this cake. So double this recipe.
2. Whisk room temperature egg whites with milk and beat well till frothy and well combined. 
3. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Then sift in dry ingredients. And add egg whites mixture to the mix and beat it all together for about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down sides as needed. Fold in coconut. 
4. Pour in parchment lined round cake pans and bake. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Make sure to use brick style cream cheese and allow it to come to room temperature before attempting to make frosting.

Same goes with butter. If any or both of these are not at room temperature, they won't combine well together. This might result in curdled frosting!

Coconut Cake success tips:

• Lemon curd filling can be too thin to be filled by itself (I did it anyway!) But combining the lemon filling layer with cream cheese frosting will make sure.
• Don't sub cake flour with all purpose flour. Your cake won't have that same soft and tender crumb. 
• Always use room temperature ingredients. Plan ahead and take them out of refrigerator at least an hour before beginning. In case you forget use hacks to warm up butter and eggs soon. 😉
• Use brick/block style cream cheese to make frosting and not the one that is sold in tubs.

More Cake Recipes:

Readers' Favorite Lemon Cake

Berry Coffee Crumb Cake

Moist Carrot Cake Recipe

Easy Chocolate Cake

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Recipe

Lemon Coconut Cake

Soft and fluffy Lemon Coconut Cake made with coconut flavored cake, layered with homemade Lemon Curd frosted with easy Cream Cheese Frosting and topped with more coconut!

4.57 from 16 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 28 minutes minutes

Chilling Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 48 minutes minutes

Servings 9 Slices

1x2x3x

Calories: 672kcal

Author: Neha

Equipment

• Three 6 inch Baking Pans

Ingredients

• ▢ 5 large Egg Whites (room temperature)
• ▢ ¾ Cup Milk (room temperature)
• ▢ ¾ Cup Butter (Unsalted, softened to room temperature)
• ▢ 1 ¾ Cups Granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ▢ 2 ½ Cups Cake Flour
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon Salt
• ▢ 1 Cup Shredded Sweetened Coconut
• ▢ 1 ½ Cup Lemon Curd

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• ▢ 8 ounces (225g) Brick style Cream Cheese (softened to room temperature)
• ▢ ½ Cup Butter (Unsalted, softened to room temperature)
• ▢ 3  Cups Confectioners' sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoon Heavy cream
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ▢ a pinch Salt

For Topping:

• ▢ Sweetened Shredded Coconut
• ▢ Lemon Slice

Instructions

• Spray three 6 inch cake pans with baking spray and line them with parchment paper and set them aside. Whisk together egg whites and ¼ cup of milk in a medium bowl until slightly frothy and mixed well.
• With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar and vanilla for 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Now sift in dry ingredients (cake flour, baking powder and salt) and give it a mix. Beat in egg white mixture until fully blended. Next add in remaining milk and beat for 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of bowl as needed. Fold in the coconut.
• Pour cake batter into prepared pans and bake in a 350 degree oven for 26-28 minutes. Remove and cool completely on wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Beat butter and cream cheese for 3-4 minutes using paddle/whisk attachment on an electric mixer. Now add in confectioners' sugar, vanilla and heavy cream. Beat for additional 3-4 minutes till the frosting gets light and fluffy.

Assembling:

• place one layer of cake on a cake stand/plate. Add a thin layer of frosting and then spread ¾ cup lemon curd over the cake. Top with second layer of cake. Repeat with spreading the frosting and remaining lemon curd for second layer of cake. Put the last layer of cake over top. Then add frosting to entire cake. Apply coconut to the top and sides of cake. Fill hand with coconut and press gently into sides of cake. Top with a lemon slice to finish off (optional).

Notes

Coconut Cake success tips:

• Lemon curd filling can be too thin to be filled by itself (I did it anyway!) But combining the lemon filling layer with cream cheese frosting will make sure.
• Don't sub cake flour with all purpose flour. Your cake won't have that same soft and tender crumb. 
• Always use room temperature ingredients. Plan ahead and take them out of refrigerator at least an hour before beginning. In case you forget use hacks to warm up butter and eggs soon. 😉
• Use brick/block style cream cheese to make frosting and not the one that is sold in tubs.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 672kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 19g | Sodium: 210mg | Sugar: 51g

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