This is an awesome cake to make. I have made it for my sister’s birthday for the last 3 years in a row because she loves it so much. The cake is so light and fluffy and the lemon curd is tart but sweet at the same time. And the coconut cream icing is so good and brings it all together.
Ingredients:
CAKE LAYERS
2 1/4 cup pastry flour
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of toasted coconut
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
7 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup of water
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut extract
3 egg whites
1 tbsp cream of tartar
LEMON CURD
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 egg yolks
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup of butter
1 tsp of lemon zest
COCONUT CREAM ICING
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
1 cup of whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp coconut extract
1 cup sweet flaked coconut
toasted coconut for garnish
TO ASSEMBLE:
For the cake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl combine the flour, all but 2 tbsp of sugar, coconut, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the centre and all the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and coconut extract. Beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the 10 eggwhites until frothy and add the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Beat in the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in a third of the egg white mixture to the batter, then fold in the remaining two thirds. Pour the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Run a knife through the batter to burst any air bubbles and bake for 1 hour. Make sure you don’t open the open door until at least 50 minutes have passed. Invert the pan and cool.
FOR LEMON CURD
Whis together the lemon juice, eggs, yolk, sugar and zest in a bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Whisk in the butter and whisk until the curd becomes thick pale and creamy. That should take about 10-15 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and cover with plastic wrap, laying it directly over the curd so that a skin doesn’t form on top. Chill the curd in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
FOR COCONUT CREAM
Combine the icing sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan and gradually stir in 1/4 of the whipping cream. Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly for a few seconds. Scrape that into a small bowl and let it come to room temperature. Be careful not the burn it. Add the vanilla and coconut extract. Whisk the remaining cream to soft peaks. Add the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly until stiff peaks form. Fold in the coconut.
To assemble the cake, but the cake into three equal layers. Spread 1/2 of the lemon curd on the bottom layer and the other half on the middle layer. Using an offset spatula, spread the coconut cream over the cake and garnish it with a sprinkle of the toasted coconut. So good!
♥ Tara
