Made a coconut cake with a special filling for Maxene's 30th!
RECIPE
Ingredients:
Cream cake: (Makes three 6 inch cakes)
2/3 cup buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, whites and yolks separated
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
Mango lemon curd:
1 large mango, peeled/pitted/cut into small pieces
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 large egg yolks (may use 3 if you dislike an 'eggie' taste)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Pinch of salt
Icing:
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup prepared mango curd
1 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
2 cups sifted powdered sugar (to taste)
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line the bottom and sides of three 6 inch round cake pans. Combine baking soda and buttermilk, and let it stand for a few minutes.
2. In a large bowl, cream sugar, 2/3 cup butter, oil together. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each one. Mix in the buttermilk mixture alternatively with the flour and whisk until you get a creamy texture. Stir in coconut extract.
3. In a standing mixer, beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the cake mixture, then quickly fold in the rest until no streaks remain. Gently stir in the coconut flakes.
4. Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool.
5. To make the mango lemon curd, puree the mango pieces, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a processor. Then add in the egg yolks and puree for another 15 seconds. Strain the mixture through a strainer and place into a large metal bowl or pan. Heat a medium/large pot of water to almost boiling then place the metal bowl/pan with your curd over it (make sure the bottom of the bowl/pan does not touch the water as photographed above). Whisk until the mixture registers to 170 degrees F (about 10-20 minutes). Do not skip this step- uncooked eggs can get you really sick. Once at 170 degrees F, remove from heat and mix in 1/4 cup of butter in pieces. Stir until dissolved. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
5. To make the icing, beat the cream cheese and butter together. Then mix in 1/4 cup mango lemon curd and powdered sugar until it's a smooth texture.
6. To assemble the cake, line the top of two of the cakes with the frosting mixture (I filled a ziplock bag with some frosting and cut the tip to frost the edges to do this). Then cover those same two cake layers with mango lemon curd. Then assemble into a 3 layer cake and cover with a layer of frosting. Once you have a crumb coat on (first layer of icing), place cake in the refrigerator to allow the icing to harden a bit, about 15 minutes. Then put on another layer of icing and then cover with sweetened coconut flakes.
Enjoy!
