Small Coconut Layer Cake with Seven Minute Frosting is an easy weeknight coconut cake baked in two 8-inch round cake pans. I originally made it with self-rising flour, but it seems the USA brands of self-rising flour vary so much in salt and leavening that it's safer to just use all-purpose, baking powder and salt. That aside, this cake has some interesting features including a super easy sour cream filling and Seven Minute Frosting. The recipe also calls for coconut milk, for moisture and extra coconut flavor. And yes, we need a new picture here!
Sour Cream Coconut Filling
Small Coconut Layer Cake has an easy filling made of sour cream, sugar, coconut and cream which you just stir together. It's a bit tart and a nice contrast to the sweet cake and 7 Minute Icing.
Small Coconut Layer Cake Seven Minute Frosting
The best part of this cake is the Seven Minute Frosting! This version is made the old fashioned way by beating egg whites and sugar with a hand held mixer in the top of a double boiler. If you have a stand mixer, you can use a different technique. Put the stand mixer bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and stir for 4 minutes or sugar dissolves. Transfer the bowl back to the stand and beat with the whisk attachment for 7 minutes.
Self-Rising or Self Raising Flour
- If you live in the UK or somewhere where they sell self-raising flour instead of self-rising, you can omit the baking powder and just add the salt since self-raising doesn't have salt.
- If using an American brand of self-rising flour, be careful because some of the brands (White Lily, especially) are geared more for biscuits and have too much baking powder and salt. I think King Arthur brand self-rising would work, and of course you'd want to omit the baking powder and salt.
Recipe
Small Coconut Layer Cake
Equipment
- Double Boiler
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour 6.8 oz** -- spoon and sweep
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter room temp
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup coconut milk not lite (Taste of Thai or Thai Kitchen)
Filling:
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup flaked coconut
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
Seven Minute Frosting
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large egg whites
- ⅓ teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- Sweetened coconut flakes 1 cup -- optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 inch round metal cake pans.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt together 2 or 3 times. Set aside.
- Beat butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl. When light and fluffy, beat in eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each egg. Beat in vanilla.
- Stir the flour mixture and coconut milk into the batter in three parts, alternating between flour and coconut milk. Do this with lowest speed of mixer or preferably, a mixing spoon.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 22-24 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then flip onto a rack and cool completely.
- While cakes cook and cool, prepare filling. Mix together sugar, sour cream, coconut and milk. Keep chilled until ready to use.
- Make Frosting: Combine sugar, cream of tartar or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a hand-held electric mixer for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Stir in the coconut if using.
brenda helmer april 4st 2010 10..00 am says
my is brenda i had never maked a coconut cake my grandmom made one it was so good now i am going to try this. i know it will be good thank you for this. brenda can you make cakes with butter.let me know thank you
Julie O'Hara says
We both loved this cake! I've never made 7 minute icing before, and now it's Mike's favorite. I only have 9-inch pans, so I made one big cake and sliced it in half, which worked out fine.
Anna says
Julia, I think they did. The thing is, I'm not sure if it's actually a Paula Deen original but rather an old Southern recipe. Then again, Paula does use a lot of self-rising flour in her earlier (pre-Food TV) recipes. It might be hers.
Julie O'Hara says
So this is kind of funny, Anna. I'm getting ready to go shopping for ingredients to make this cake for my husband's birthday. Then I remember I saved a Paula Deen coconut cake recipe from Good Housekeeping a few months ago. I thought it was the greatest thing at the time, so I found it to compare with yours and decide which to go with. They're exactly the same, right down to the self-rising flour and 7-min. icing. Did the the person on recipezaar not give credit to Paula? Oh, well, it doesn't matter to me...I don't have to make a decision:) I'll let you know how it turns out!
Randi says
I have a coconut cake recipe that was given to me by an egullet member. Its going to be in the November issue of Southern Living. I'll give it to you if you want it. Its long and involved.
Bronte says
YUUUUM...I loooove anything with coconut in it, especially cake! this looks soooo good, ill be sure to try it sometime...thanks!
<3
Debbie says
Yum - your cake looks amazing!! Have you ever tried the Coconut Layer Cake recipe on Epicurious that is from the Shubox Cafe (Dec 1999 issue)? It is so delicious - everyone always asks for the recipe when I make it. I even used it to make my sister's wedding cake! It uses Coco Lopez (cream of coconut) in the batter and a cream cheese frosting with coconut flakes. Without the frosting, you can barely tell the cake is coconut - it just tastes like a really moist delicious white cake. Definitely worth a try! 🙂
Ashley says
Oohh this looks so good!! I love coconut. I'd never have thought to make a filling using our cream, but both the filling and the icing look so insanely good!
Chris says
I just made coconut cupcakes over the weekend and posted a recipe for coconut frosting on my blog: cookleitz.blogspot.com
Anna says
Sue, this is a good one. It comes together surprisingly quickly, even with the 7 minute icing.
Carole, I think a 9 inch square pan would work better. You might not use all of the batter, but you'd get a nice tall square cake.
KAnn, I loved the 7 minute icing, but you could just make a double or triple batch of the filling and slop some of that over the top. Then you could cover the whole thing in whipped cream, I guess.
Honey, I'm not a coconut lover and I liked the cake. You would love it.
Rita, yes. I hate having coconut milk lying around. It doesn't keep well. Whole Food sells it in 7 oz cans. I wish everyone would.
Veggiegirl, thanks for the tip. I don't have that book but I'll look for it in the store.
Susan, Mary, Cathy and Diggigirl. Since you all like coconut, you might want to experiment. I think the cream cheese icing is a good idea too and I also like the idea of somehow incorporating lemon curd. If you aren't intimidated by slicing layers horizontally, you could make this a 4 layer cake and alternate lemon curd and the sweet coconut filling.
Jennifer, you could halve this one again and do it in 1 8 inch pan. You'd have to split that one layer, but even if you mess up, you can glue it all back together with the filling. Scale one down for yourself.
Jody, I'll bet if people tried this one they'd like it. The coconut milk is kind of mild yet still flavorful. That is, you can tell it's coconut, but it's not in your face coconutty like coconut extract and whatnot.
Katrina, I'll bet one of your boys will outgrow the cake aversion.....and NONE TOO SOON.
Katrina says
Looks really yummy! Too bad my kids and my husband don't really like cake, especially frosting. (Yes, they're crazy!) I shouldn't eat any anyway.
Jennifer says
Coconut cake is one of my very favorite things. Quinn doesn't like coconut at all, so I can't remember the last time I made one. I've been tempted to scale a recipe way back and just make one for myself. Sad, huh? Oh, and I'm not an icing skimper either. The more, the better.
Digigirl says
I've been looking for a good coconut cake recipe to make for my boyfriend. This one looks perfect and your picture is just delectable!
Cathy - www.wheresmydamnanswer.com says
This looks so great - Light and just plain YUMMY. All things coconut are good!!
Cheers
Cathy
http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com
jodycakes says
This is a beautiful little gem of a cake!!!
I wish more people would order coconut cakes...I love to bake with the stuff!!!
Keep all those beautiful creations a-coming...
jodycakes (from where's my damn answer)
Mary M says
What a ko-winkidink!
Bobby Flay on Food Network had a coconut cake throw down this weekend- your posting makes me REALLY want to make one too! I suppose the Food Network website has the recipes they used. The challenger sliced his layers so he ended up 9 layers and used a cream cheese-based frosting.
It's my birthday this weekend- maybe I'll have to indulge myself? (My hips just screamed "NO!")
Susan says
My husband and I love coconut. I'm going to have to try this recipe. Thanks.
VeggieGirl says
I love making coconut layer cakes - there's a great recipe for the cake and frosting in "Eat, Drink & Be Vegan."
Clumbsy Cookie says
What a great looking cake Anna. Opened coconut milk cans tend to call our names to be used, they get me everytime! Good thing you did the full amount of frosting, it looks perfect like that!
HoneyB says
I love coconut! Your cake looks delicious!
KAnn says
The cake looks wonderful! Coconut may just be my very favorite flavor-possibly ahead of chocolate-very close, at least! I do many coconut desserts and cookies but I have never done a coconut layer cake. Anna, is there an alternative to the 7 Minute Icing?
btw, coconut fans, LaraBar will be introducing Coconut Cream Pie flavor next month and it tastes incredible, too, if you are fond of LaraBars.
Carole R. says
Do you think it would work in 1 13 x 9 x 2?
My Food lovers companion says that a 8 x 2-inch round pan holds 6 cups of batter. So two pans would be 12 cups. A 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan holds 15 cups. So my c ake would not be too tall.
Sue says
My husband loves coconut. I should try this sometime. I keep meaning to make him coconut cream pie, but I don't seem to get it done.