I’ve had a bag of coconut sitting around the house, and I’ve been wanting to use it for a while now, but I couldn’t seem to decide what to make with it! Not from a lack of ideas, but rather an excess of ideas! I just had so many different ideas from coconut cake, to coconut truffles, to coconut cookies… can you see my struggle here? The biggest issue was that I couldn’t decide what to make first! Thankfully, my family bought me a new cake decorating set for Christmas and of course I needed to try it out ASAP, so that helped seal the deal — Toasted Coconut Cake!

I’m really glad I decided to make the cake, because guuuys! This cake is sooo delicious. It’s a soft and spongey vanilla cake, with bits of shredded coconut folded into the cake. Then it’s topped with a light and fluffy, lemon frosting, and finished with golden, toasted, shredded coconut. Oh my gosh, I’m drooling!

Now I’ve said this before, but I really have to emphasis this fact — I’m typically not a cake person, because the cake people have given to me in the past are dry as heck… but NOT THIS CAKE! I LOOOVE THIS TOASTED COCONUT CAKE! I shot this cake Sunday morning, and as soon as I finished the shoot, I ate a piece for breakfast! It’s so dang good!! The cake is so moist and soft, with a silky smooth and refreshing frosting!

Cake Tips

For the best cake, I recommend letting the cake setup in the fridge for 30 minutes or so, after it’s been assembled. This helps the cake and frosting to set together. The frosting thickens just a bit, so you get a cool creamy bite of frosting with a soft fluffy cake.

Frosting Tips

Now the frosting on this cake is too die for! It’s out of this world good! But it’s important to note, that the ingredients for it need to be added and mixed in the correct order, otherwiiise, the frosting is runny and separates the minute it’s combined! So to avoid this, we make sure the base ingredients — butter, powdered sugar, and greek yogurt are mixed first so they’re smooth. Then we add in the wet ingredients. This helps the frosting to absorb the wet ingredients and stay smooth, instead of separating!

How to make Toasted Coconut Cake

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1. Begin by preheating the oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
2. In a food processor, (I use this one) pulse the one cup of shredded coconut, until it’s in smaller crumbles.
3. In a mixing bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, shredded coconut, and salt.
4. In a bowl combine the milk and vinegar, to make a version of buttermilk.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, and vanilla extract, then add in the buttermilk. Whisk to combine.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir until combined.
7. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the 1/4 cup of butter for 30 seconds, until completely melted.
8. Stir the melted butter into the cake batter.
9. Line the bottom of two 8″ cake tins with wax paper or parchment paper.
10. Split the cake batter evenly between the two cake tins.
11. Bake for 35 minutes or until a tooth pick can be inserted into the cake and comes out clean.
12. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool ten minutes.
13. Then take a knife and go around the edge of the cakes, to loosen them from the tins.
14. Place a hand on the cake and carefully flip the cake tin over and remove the cake from the tin. Repeat for the other cake. Place them on a cookie sheet and stick them in the freezer for 30 minutes to cool them.
15. After the cakes have been in the freezer for 30 minutes, place them on a cooling rack on the counter, to cool for the remaining time.
16. Wait for the cakes to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting

1. Place 2 1/2 cups of sweetened shredded coconut into a large sauce pan, over medium heat, stirring frequently, toast the coconut until it’s golden brown. Spread the toasted coconut onto a cookie tray and let it cool.
2. In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, cream together the softened butter and powdered sugar.
3. Then add in the greek yogurt. Cream until smooth.
4. Add in the vanilla extract and lemon juice. Cream the frosting together until smooth.

To Assemble the Cake

1. Place one cake round on the cake stand (I use this cake decorating set.) Spoon half of the frosting onto the top of the cake round. Using an angled spatula, smooth out the frosting on the top of the cake so it’s level and the frosting on the edges is pillowy, then top with half of the toasted coconut.
2. Place the other cake round on top.
3. Spoon the remaining frosting on to the top of the cake, smooth it out so it’s level. Sprinkle the remaining toasted coconut on top of the cake.
4. Press any coconut that falls off the cake, around the edge of the cake onto the frosting.
5. Serve the cake immediately, or store in the fridge for later.