Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese and Vanilla Frosting

This luscious coconut and vanilla cake is very easy to make, and what’s more, doesn’t require special skills to ice it! The nature of the frosting and coconut means that if you make a mistake while frosting, the cake will still look lovely.

If you have a child who is into Frozen, you could make this as a birthday cake (if they like coconut!) as it has a very snowy, pure white look.

I made this cake in one deep 9 inch springform tin, but you could make it in two 9 inch sandwich pans if you prefer.

Instructions

To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing just until each is incorporated. Add the extracts in and give the batter a quick mix.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. With the mixer on low speed, alternate between adding these dry ingredients and the milk to the cake batter, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

Use a large spoon or spatula to stir in the 4 oz of shredded coconut until incorporated.

Line two 9-inch cake pans/one deep 9 inch springform tin with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pans.

Add the mixture to the pan before baking at 350°F/160 C fan/gas mark 4 for 45 to 55 minutes, until the top is golden and a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool in the pan before flipping them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once they're completely cool, frost with cream cheese frosting.

How to Make the Frosting:

To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until they're combined and smooth.

Add in the extracts and the powdered sugar. Beat the frosting just until the powdered sugar is blended in. It should be thick and smooth. If it seems too stiff, stream in a couple teaspoons of milk to loosen it up.

To assemble, cut your cold cake in half carefully, or if you used two tins, simply place your first layer of cake onto your serving platter and apply frosting on its top. Add the second layer of cake and repeat.

Then frost the sides before taking a small handful of shredded coconut and very gently patting it into the sides of the cake. Sprinkle the coconut all over the top as well.

You can’t press the coconut into this kind of icing, so use plenty of coconut, and just keep adding more and gently patting the sides until it’s covered.

Slice and enjoy with a good cup of coffee!

Tip: If you have a cake decorating turntable, it will make adding the frosting much easier.