In hot weather like this, we'd love to introduce coconut cake: sweet, fragrant, delicious and refreshing, and great for selling too. Everyone who tries it is hooked.
Coconut is a fruit full of goodness. As well as eating it fresh, you can turn it into coconut cake, which right now is a cake everyone loves: refreshing, cooling and wonderfully rich. Coconut cake has soft, delicate layers sandwiched with a young coconut filling simmered in nam hom coconut water to blend with the flesh. The key is the flesh and the water: the flesh must be very young nam hom coconut to go perfectly with the sponge. This recipe bakes the sponge as 3 separate layers so it cooks quickly and stays moist, but you can also bake one cake and slice it into 3 layers.
Ready? Let's look at the ingredients and method for coconut cake.
Coconut Cake Ingredients
For the Sponge
- 120 g cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 5 g milk powder
- 5 eggs (60–65 g each)
- 60 g coconut water
- About 150 g sugar
- 70 g vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Equipment
- 3 × 3-pound cake tins
- Baking paper, piping bag, 10 mm piping tip
- Mixer, cake turntable, spatula, cake scraper
For the Coconut Filling
- 300 g young coconut water
- 30 g cornflour
- 250 g plain fresh milk
- 50 g sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 300 g young coconut flesh
For Decorating
- About 600 g whipping cream
- Edible gold leaf, for decoration
How to Make Coconut Cake
- Make the filling: take about 5 tablespoons of the coconut water and stir it into the cornflour until dissolved. Pour the rest of the coconut water into a pot, followed by the milk, sugar and salt, and bring to the boil over medium heat. Add the coconut flesh and stir. When it boils again, add the cornflour mixture, stir well and simmer until the filling thickens. Turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C and line the base of all 3 tins with baking paper. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, salt and milk powder and set aside.
- Separate the eggs into 2 bowls. Add the coconut water, 45 g sugar and the oil to the yolks and whisk quickly until smooth and the sugar has dissolved without grains. Sift the flour mixture into the yolks and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In another bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until coarse bubbles form, then gradually add the remaining sugar mixed with the cream of tartar. Keep beating until the whites are smooth, dense and hold soft peaks, then turn off the mixer.
- Divide the whites into 3 portions and fold them into the yolk mixture gradually and gently until combined. Divide the batter between the tins, 225 g per tin, and smooth the tops. Tap the base of the tins lightly to release large air bubbles and bake for 15–18 minutes. Remove from the oven and invert onto a rack to cool.
- Meanwhile, whip the cream with an electric mixer until thick and saucy. Set aside 150 g of this cream for a glossy drizzle at the end (keep it in the main compartment of the fridge). Keep beating the rest until it reaches soft-to-firm peaks. Put one-third of the cream into a piping bag with a round tip for piping between the layers, and keep the rest in the bowl for coating the outside.
- Assemble: place the first layer on the turntable and pipe a ring of cream around the edge. Spoon the cooled coconut filling into the centre and spread it level. Add the second layer and repeat, piping cream around the edge and adding filling, then top with the final layer. Coat the top and sides smoothly with the remaining cream and chill in the main compartment of the fridge for at least 2 hours to set.
- After 2 hours, take the coconut cake out of the fridge and drizzle the top with the reserved 150 g of cream. Decorate the top with the remaining coconut filling in your own style, and add gold leaf if you like. Cut and serve.
So what do you think of this coconut cake? We're sure many of you will love it: delicious and refreshing. We've shared the secrets, it's not hard to make, and you can even make it to sell for extra income.
