Coconut Layer Cake Filled with Lemon Curd
I’ve been loving layer cakes recently. In the past I always felt like I needed a special occasion to make a layer cake. But I got some 6″ cake pans for Christmas this year. When you make a 6″ cake, it serves 8, which is perfect for a dinner party.
I also have the opinion that when making a layer cake, you might as well go all out and make it into 4 layers. I mean, seriously, who wants just two layers of cake when you can have four! What that really means is that you’ll have more layers of the good stuff – the filling!
We had friends M&M over for dinner and I served this cake for dessert. We all enjoyed the lightness of the cake. It was the perfect ending to the meal and would be great for any of the upcoming Spring holidays.
I used my go-to white cake recipe except used coconut extract in the cake. Then I filled the cake with some lemon curd and added toasted coconut to the outside of the cake. I love adding some garnish to the sides of a cake. Then it doesn’t matter how good or bad you are at frosting the sides of a cake.
In case you were wondering, a 6″ cake uses a half batch necessary for a 9″ cake. I always use my cupcake scoop to portion out batter. Nine inch cakes are equivalent to 12 cupcakes per layer and six inch cakes are equivalent to 6 cupcakes per layer. Note the recipe below is for a full sized 9″ two-layer cake. Cut in half for a 6″ double-layer cake.
I filled the cake with this lemon curd and used this vanilla buttercream frosting recipe.
One Year Ago: White Cupcakes and Spring M&M Pretzel Treats
Two Years Ago: Sugar Cookie Bars, Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomato Appetizers, and Fauxstess Cupcakes
Three Years Ago: Summer Squash
Coconut Cake
Yield: 8
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
6 large egg whites (3/4 cup), at room temperature
2 tsp coconut extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp table salt
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened but still cool
Directions:
Set oven rack in middle position. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9" cake pans with parchment and butter.
Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended.
Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.
Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1½ minutes. Add remaining ½ cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer.
Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.
Cool completely prior to frosting.
Recipe adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’m like you and totally try out recipes based on photos! I think goat cheese and fruit are always a perfect combo. The goat cheesecake sounds intriguing!
Looks and sounds amazing! I’m totally with you about photos of food – they are typically what tempt me to make a recipe.
This cake looks DELICIOUS!
I’d never heard of using goat cheese in a cheesecake, but I’m intrigued.
I, too, much prefer pictures. Sometimes you just don’t put the ingredients together in your head the right way and it comes out looking totally different than you expected. I also flip through the book faster and I tend to not find recipes unless there are pics!
i think trying something new without any idea what it should look like it rough. i love pictures but most cookbooks dont seem to have enough. i think thats why i love this blog so much, you take TONS! 🙂
i am very intrigued by this recipe. but i dont eat blueberries or peaches. is it good by itself? or is the fruit greatly needed??
Beeb – It’s similar to any other cheesecake. It was good on it’s own, but the fruit really enhanced the flavor. Are there other fruits you like that you could top it with? Strawberries and blueberries would be great!
Oh yum! I totally want to try this. I love goat cheese (and fruit) and bet this would make an amazing cake!
I like photos too, but sometimes I get a little too into them. Like the other night when I forgot to add raisins to my cinnamon raisin bread because they weren’t in the photo 🙂
Sues
I definitely prefer recipes with pictures but if a description is really good (or intriguing) or if an author points it out as a favorite… or lastly if it’s a source I trust, I go for it. With that said, I’m glad you made it and posted pictures. This cake looks (and sounds) absolutely fantastic!!!
This looks really good. I agree that sometimes I eat with my eyes. I love photos, but not the ones that look almost fake since they are so perfect. That’s why I love food blogs – usually it is just the food as it will be served.
I cook from a lot of different sources, and will try recipes that are appealing without any pics either. Sometimes it is more difficult when I am completely unfamiliar with the dish, though.
Photos! I love yours…the “cake” looks so pretty with it’s white lip and fruit piled high.
~ingrid
Sounds wonderful. I can see how it would be more of a “cheesecake” than a “cheese cake” because there’s such a small amount of flour. As we move into fall, I bet it would be delicious with a topping of figs sauteed with honey… mmm… honey figs and goat cheese!
LOVE goat cheese cheesecake 🙂 peaches and blueberries seem like another good topper (i recently made one with figs and raspberries!)
i really have to bake that cake for my boyfriend who has a milk intolerance. thank you for posting this many recipes with goat cheese 🙂
best wishes, jay, my blog: artandloveandme.blogspot.com