Coconut has such a distinct flavor. It certainly is assertive enough to be make it's appearance known, but is also mild and delicate in it's own way. This coconut cake is absolutely divine. When I first saw the recipe on America's Test Kitchen, it was on my to-do list right away. I was very pleased with the results, especially when my husband loved it too. Sergi doesn't usually like coconut, but he loved this cake.
I decided to add raspberry jam to the cake, adding some tartness and another dimension of flavor. Since I don't like butter cream, I decided to make a Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting instead and it was the right decision. This cake is going to be made for many special occasions in my family, and I hope you and your family will enjoy it too.
Cake Layers:
1 large egg plus 5 large egg whites
¾ cup cream of coconut
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2 ¼ cups cake flour (9 ounces), sifted
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons butter (1 ½ sticks), cut into 12 pieces, softened
Raspberry Jam:
12 oz raspberries (fresh or frozen)
⅓ cup sugar (or to taste)
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 sticks butter, softened
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
remaining cream of coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoon coconut extract
Garnish:
1-2 cups toasted coconut flakes
fresh raspberries
Cake Layers:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 (8-9 inch) round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
First of all, let's talk about the cream of coconut. You can find this in the baking aisle, or in the international food aisle. Make sure it says Cream of Coconut on the can, not coconut milk, etc. You will need one full 15 oz can. We're going to use part of it in the cake layers and the rest of it in the frosting. 
Combine all the wet ingredients (egg, egg whites, water, cream of coconut, vanilla and coconut extract) together and mix to combine.
In a large bowl of a standing mixer, with a paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) and mix to combine. 
Add the softened butter, one piece at a time, until it's incorporated into the dry ingredients, about 2 minutes. The butter pieces shouldn't be larger than pea sized. 
With the mixer running on low, pour in the liquid ingredients. 
Mix until the batter is smooth. 
Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. 
Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes and then take out of the pans onto cooling racks. 
When the cakes have cooled, cut them in half horizontally with a serrated knife.
Raspberry Jam:
Meanwhile, make the raspberry jam by combining the raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan. 
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. 
Strain the raspberries through a fine mesh sieve. Set aside. 
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
Combine the cream cheese and butter in a standing mixer using a paddle attachment. Mix until creamy and smooth. 
Add the powdered sugar, the remaining container of cream of coconut and the extracts. Mix to combine. 
Assembling the Cake:
Spread ⅓ of the raspberry jam on top of the first cake layer. 
Spread part of the frosting over the jam. 
Repeat with the rest of the cake layers. 
Spread the frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake. 
Decorate the sides of the cake with the toasted coconut flakes and with fresh raspberries on top of the cake.
Coconut Raspberry Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 large egg plus 5 large egg whites
- ¾ cup cream of coconut
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour 9 ounces, sifted
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
- 12 tablespoons butter 1 ½ sticks, cut into 12 pieces, softened
Raspberry Jam: 12 oz raspberries (fresh or frozen)
- ⅓ cup sugar or to taste
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 2 sticks butter softened
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- remaining cream of coconut
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 teaspoon coconut extract
- Garnish: 1-2 cups toasted coconut flakes
- fresh raspberries
Instructions
Cake Layers:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 (8-9 inch) round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
- Combine all the wet ingredients (egg, egg whites, water, cream of coconut, vanilla and coconut extract) together and mix to combine.
- In a large bowl of a standing mixer, with a paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) and mix to combine.
- Add the softened butter, mixing on low speed, one piece at a time, until it's incorporated into the dry ingredients, about 2 minutes. The butter pieces shouldn't be larger than pea sized.
- With the mixer running on low, pour in the liquid ingredients. Mix until the batter is smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.
- Cool for about 10 minutes and then take out of the pans onto cooling racks. When the cakes have cooled, cut them in half horizontally with a serrated knife.
Raspberry Jam
- Meanwhile, make the raspberry jam by combining the raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Strain the raspberries through a fine mesh sieve. Set aside.
Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Combine the cream cheese and butter in a standing mixer using a paddle attachment. Mix until creamy and smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, the remaining container of cream of coconut and the extracts. Mix to combine.
Assembling the cake:
- Spread ⅓ of the raspberry jam on top of the first cake layer. Spread part of the frosting over the jam. Repeat with the rest of the cake layers.
- Spread the frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake.
- Decorate the sides of the cake with the toasted coconut flakes and with fresh raspberries on top of the cake.
hey Olga great recipe!! Just one question, would cream of coconut be the same as coconut cream? Normally coconut cream is much more thicker then the one in the photo
I always use the exact same cram of coconut that is in the picture. Cream of coconut is sweetened coconut cream.
I finally got to strain it but there wasn't a lot of jam left...
As long as you didn't cook it too long, there should be enough jam left for the cake.
the only problem that I had was that the raspberry jam turned out kind of thick and I wasn't able to strain it through... is it fine if you don't strain it?
You don't have to strain the raspberry jam if you don't want to, but then you will have the raspberry seeds in the cake. I personally don't mind taking the time to strain it, since I don't like raspberry seeds in cake. I strain the raspberry seeds out of jam when I make it too, so if you don't mind the seeds, you don't have to bother.
It does take some patience to strain it out. It helps if you do it while it's still hot.
the only problem that I had was that the raspberry jam turned out kid of thick and I wasn't able to strain it through... is it fine if you don't strain it?
can you make this cake with margarine instead of butter for the cake layers? will it make a difference?
I have never tried it with margarine, Yuliya. I wouldn't recommend it though.
hey Olga, I did the cake with margarine and it turned out very good... thank you for the recipe.
Thanks for letting me know. I'm glad it worked out for you, Yuliya.
Do you think I can use the coconut filling, as well as the raspberry filling in a cake roll? Or would it ooze out?
Yes, Dino, you can use the coconut frosting and the raspberry filling in a cake roll. It will not ooze out unless you use too much.
Hi Olga, do you think using regular all purpose flour instead of cake flour would work?
I wouldn't recommend it, Oksana. The cake will not be as tender and delicate, but more dense and may not rise as much as it should. The protein structure in cake flour is much different than all purpose flour.
Well you're definitely right about that! I was tied down to the house and couldn't get cake flour, so hoping that Canadian flour would be closest to cake flour, I made the cakes and it's really really dense 🙁 but I'm sure once it's all put together, the flavor will be there. This was a learning experience; when a recipe calls for cske flour, you NEED cake flour 🙂
Yep, cake flour is very important in most recipes and cannot be substituted for any other kind of flour, although I know that you can add some cornstarch while taking away some of the flour; I don't know the exact measurements, but you can look it up online. However, whenever I've done that in the past, the results are not the same.
Hi, this cake looks so decadent and I can't wait to try the recipe. However, I'll be making it for a special occasion and thinking about covering it with fondant. Do you think the cake will hold up for this type of decoration?
Yes, Sher, you can definitely cover it with fondant. This cake will do very well with fondant.
Hi Olya. I was wondering if the same measurements would be used if I wanted to make this cake a roulade?
Tanya, I have no idea what the measurements would be, since I've never made this cake into a roulade. I'm not even sure if this cake will roll up properly. If you try it, please let me know:).
Olya how much powdered sugar would I use in the cream? It says 1/2 powdered sugar. 1/2 cups? Also, does it tasted buttery with the amount of butter in the cream?
It's 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar, and no, the frosting does not taste too buttery, at least in my opinion:).
Hey .. Looks beautiful! I am wondering, can I leave all coconut things out and sub with something else?
Hi Alina!
If you mean the coconut flakes, then, yes, you can omit them. However, the cream of coconut is necessary in the recipe. If you don't want to use it, I would recommend baking another cake.
Does the cake turn out moist? I noticed you didn't use any syrup on the cake layers before the frosting, and the raspberry filling doesn't look runny to me. I love love love coconut and definitely want to make this as soon as I buy some coconut cream.
Hi Katrina,
Nope, no syrup needed. This cake is very tender and delicate and doesn't need any syrup. Although, it's totally up to you; you can add some if you'd like. In my opinion, it's moist enough.
This looks amazing. I also had to go to 3 stores to find cream of coconut, I asked in the 1st two and they didn't have it, I finally found it at Fred Meyer next to the drink mixers. On the frosting, you just say 1/2 powdered sugar. Do you mean 1/2 a cup?
I made this cake, but had to bake for 40 minutes because after 30 it just was not done. Also I had to add more powdered sugar to the frosting, I am guessing because my butter was to soft? Not sure. But it turned out great in the end.
Hi Rita! I'm glad you tried out this recipe. Thanks for taking the time to let me know your thoughts.
Every oven is different, I write the recipes based on what works in my kitchen. Yes, it's 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Thanks for letting me know, I'll fix it. I did not need to add more sugar to my frosting. My guess it that you were expecting the frosting to be very thick, like buttercream. I personally don't like buttercream, so I don't use it in my cakes and I prefer my frostings to be softer and not as sweet. I was very pleased with the consistency of my frosting, but of course, everybody has different preferences, so you just adjust it to the way that you like it.
Beautiful cake, Olga! I love the way you take extra time to make your cakes looks thrillingly breathtakingly beautiful. Like they just came outta some high-end bakery! I'll have to give this a try 🙂 I like coconut 🙂
Thanks, Nadia. That's a sweet comment.
I finally ended up finding it in Safeway, there was only one brand to choose from, but cream of coconut, nonetheless! Thanks for your reply though 🙂
Where did you buy the cream of coconut? I've looked in two stores already and can't seem to find it anywhere?
In Florida cream of coconut can be found in all grocery stores. It will depend on the area that you live in. Maybe it's not sold in the state that you live. I usually find it in the aisle where all the international food items are sold. Did you ask the store manager to find out if they sell it?
It usually can be found in the drink mixers section. It's the main ingredient in most pina coladas. Look for by the bloody mary mix etc.