Coconut Cake with Coconut Frosting

This isn't just any coconut cake. This is John's absolute favorite cake. I used to make this cake every year for John's birthday but haven't for the last few years, on account of being pregnant, having Roman, and being pregnant. June is also a super busy birthday month for our family (John on the 21st, me on the 26th, and my mom on the 29th), so we usually just have one cake for all of us. But this year is different! This year John is on holidays the week of his birthday and Bianca is a champion napper, so that means that I have time to make the coconut cake!

If you like coconut you are going to love this cake! I don't believe is subtle flavour when it comes to cake. If it's supposed to be a coconut cake I want the coconut flavour to smack you in the face and then kick you in the shin! I came across this recipe many moons ago on AllRecipes.com but have tweaked it a bit to make it absolutely perfect. Of course I couldn't just top the cake with my regular buttercream icing, so I whipped up some coconut buttercream, then topped the cake with shaved coconut. There should be no questioning what flavour this cake it!

Coconut Cake with Coconut Frosting
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
5 eggs
2 cups flour
1 1/2t baking powder
1/2 cup coconut milk*
2 cup shredded coconut
1t coconut extract**
Coconut Frosting***

* If you've never used coconut milk before it can be a little confusing. When you open the can it looks like the milk is solid, but if you dump it into a bowl and whisk it up if will become more of a cream texture. To thin it out a bit you can add some water, or to keep the coconut theme going, add some coconut water, which is what I did.
**I used Lorann Professional Kitchen Coconut Bakery Emulsion. This extract isn't as artificial tasting as others I have used, so if you can find this one I highly recommend it.
***For the coconut frosting I used my go to buttercream icing recipe but replaced the vanilla with coconut extract and the milk with some of the coconut milk I mixed up for the cake. I made it fairly soft so it was easy to spread over the cake.
I swear that's the last * for this recipe!!

Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9" round baking pan. I, or should I say Roman, used Wilton's cake release to grease the pan. This stuff is amazing and I've never had a cake stick if I use it.

In a large bowl, or a stand mixer named Martin if you're me, cream together butter and sugar. *TIP - the more creamed the butter and sugar are the smoother your cake will be! Fold in eggs one at a time, allowing each to fully incorporate before adding the next. Add flour, baking powder, coconut extract and 1 cup shredded coconut, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all the flour is mixed in. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Or if you're power goes out while you're outside, which you don't notice until you come back in an hour later, 2 hours!

Let the cake to cool in the pan for a few minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack, and allow to cool completely. Once cooled, slice the cake in half using a bread knife, or one of those fancy cake slicers if you have one and can find it. Line the outside of the cake plate with strips of parchment paper and set half of the cake on top (you'll see why in a minute). Spread a good amount of the frosting on the cake on the cake plate using a offset spatula, and sandwich the other half on top. Don't be cheap with the frosting, nobody likes a cheap froster! Spread the remainder of the frosting all over the cake. Don't worry about being too perfect with it because once it's covered with shredded coconut you won't be able to see your mistakes. You can press or throw the shredded coconut onto the side of the cake, whichever you prefer, and then sprinkle some on top. You're almost done!

Gently, very gently, slide the pieces of parchment out from under the cake to reveal a perfectly clean cake plate. Best magic trick ever and you look like a frosting wizard!

I made this cake a day early, so I had to wrap the cake in plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge. I was a little concerned that the frosting was going to stick to the plastic, but it didn't and all is well in the world. John, Roman and I all enjoyed the cake today and it was delicious. It's super rich so this cake will feed a ton of people because you really can't eat too much in one sitting. And that's saying something coming from the girl who used to eat pie filling from the can!