Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Filling

adapted, mostly, from Alton Brown’s recipe on foodtv.com
makes one 9″ cake

If you can, try to find canned coconut milk or cream with no added crap. No preservatives, no chemicals. As far as extract, I’ve never seen a pure coconut version. They’re all a strange mix, presumably because real coconut would not make a strong enough extract, though some have a more natural flavor than others. I like this one well enough.

Also, toasted coconut adds yet another dimension of coconut flavor, so I used some shards for sprinkling on top. You can sprinkle with plain, untoasted coconut as well, for a white-on-white effect.

For the cake:

Non-stick cooking spray, for the cake pan
3 cups (406 g) cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (6 g) baking powder
1 teaspoon (4 g) salt
1 cup (224 g) coconut milk or coconut cream (NOT cream of coconut)
2 sticks (224 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups (448 g) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 g) coconut extract
4 large (approximately 135 g) egg whites

1/3 cup coconut water, for brushing cake

For the Frosting:

4 large (approximately 135 g) egg whites
1 1/4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons (30 g) coconut water
1/4 teaspoon (1 g) salt
1 teaspoon (5 g) coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon (3 g) vanilla extract

passion fruit curd, from this post. I substituted passion fruit puree for the lemon juice.

Grated coconut, unsweetened, for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 9″ cake pans: Spritz each cake pan with a little cooking spray. (Or alternately smear a piece of butter around to grease up the pan.)

2. Line each with a circle of parchment paper, and spritz lightly again. Set aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed, until, pale, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

4. Drizzle in the coconut extract and give it another stir of the paddle for a few seconds, just to mix it in. Scrape down the mixing bowl for better incorporation.

5. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.

6. Pour half of the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl with the butter/sugar, and incorporate on slow speed. Pour in half the coconut milk (or coconut cream), and stir that in. Then stir in the rest of the dry stuff, and then the rest of the coconut milk.

7. Whip the egg whites to soft peak. Fold 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the batter. This will help loosen it, and the rest will be easier to fold in. Fold in the rest of the egg whites.

8. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans, and bake for about 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely.

9. Meanwhile, toast the coconut. Spread out unsweetened dry coconut onto a sheet pan and toast at 350 degrees until golden, 3-5 minutes.

10. When you are ready to assemble the cake, make the frosting. In bowl that’s big enough to sit comfortably over a double boiler, pour in the whites and the sugar. Now place it over a pot filled with a couple of inches of boiling water. Start whisking immediately, or the heat will start scrambling the egg whites.

11. Whisk for a couple of minutes. The sugar will dissolve and the mixture will get very warm. Test it by sticking your finger in the bowl. It should feel like a comfortable warm bath, but not so hot you flinch. You have a lot of room for error here, so no need to get hung up about it. When it’s good and warm, pour it into your stand mixer (or go right at it with a hand mixer). Whip on high speed.

12. In a few minutes, it will whip up thick and gooey, and billowy and meringue-y. This is a swiss meringue.

13. Pour in the salt, coconut extract, vanilla extract, and coconut water, and let that whip in for 15 more seconds. We’re ready to frost.

14. If your cake gets any dome, you can trim it off with a serrated knife. Hold it parallel to the table, and saw gently back and forth. Now we’ll split it in half horizontally. I flip the cake upside down because the bottom is completely flat and it’s easier to eyeball the split while I cut. Again, I use a long serrated knife, and carefully run it around the perimeter of the cake until the knife slices all the way through. Do this with both cakes.

15. Grab the cake platter, and line it with pieces of parchment paper. This will protect the plate from the mess we’re about to make. Place a layer of cake on, and lightly brush the top with coconut water.

16. Spread some passion fruit curd (or coconut frosting, whichever you’re using) over the cake layer. Gently press a layer of cake over the curd, brush it with some more coconut water, and spread some frosting over that party. And do it again. Another cake layer. Brush some coconut water. More curd (or frosting). Then the last layer for the top. I like to save a cake bottom for the top because it’s an even surface.

17. Then frost the ouside. rost. First, do a very thin “crumb coat” to seal it all up and lock in the crumbs. Clean off your crumby spatula (by licking?) and slather on a nice, fat coat of that frosting!

18. Top off with coconut garnish and get lost in coconut heaven!


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URL to original: https://www.pastrypal.com/2011/02/chasing-a-coconut-cake/

Copyright © Irina Kogan. All rights reserved.