lemon coconut cake

Lemon coconut cake is the perfect combination of delicious flavors and a soft texture! Moist and topped with the flaked coconut, this cake is insanely delicious and SOO good! 

Lemon Coconut Cake

unsalted butter (softened)

sugar

cream of coconut

large eggs (large room temp)

coconut extract

lemon extract

lemon

flour

baking powder

baking soda

salt

coconut

milk

lemon juice

Tablespoons milk

coconut flakes (toasted)

Preheat the oven to 350° and spray a 9x13 pan with pan spray and set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the softened butter and sugar on medium together until light and fluffy. Beat in the cream of coconut until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated before adding the next egg. Add the extracts, lemon zest, and milk and mix on medium-low until combined.

In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 2-3 additions add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until combined. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Fold in the shredded coconut.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake and the cake springs back when pressed.

Cool completely and frost with the icing. Top with the toasted coconut and enjoy.

Beat the softened butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Turn the speed up and beat in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and milk until smooth.

Frosting

Lemon coconut cake features deliciously moist coconut cake layers, homemade lemon curd, toasted coconut and cream cheese frosting. It's a family favorite recipe! To make the best possible lemon coconut cake, make sure to read my notes in the post and below before beginning.

(315 grams) sifted cake flour (spoon & leveled)*

Tablespoon baking powder

(120 milliliters) canned coconut milk, at room temperature*

(120 milliliters) buttermilk, at room temperature*

(200 grams) granulated sugar

(100 grams) packed light brown sugar

eggs,

Tablespoon (15 milliliters) pure vanilla extract

coconut extract (I prefer the cake

ounces sweetened shredded coconut (about 2 loosely packed cups)

3 cups (360 grams) confectioners’ sugar

Tablespoons (30 milliliters) coconut milk or heavy cream

vanilla extract

topping: toasted (or not!) sweetened shredded coconut and lemon slices

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray or lightly butter three 9-inch cake pans. Set aside.

Make the cake

 Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine the coconut milk and buttermilk together in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. Set aside.

With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed in a large bowl until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes until creamed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer running on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla extract and the coconut extract (if using). Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed.

With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the milk mixture and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix. Use a whisk to rid any large lumps, if needed. The batter will be slightly thick. Finally, fold in the coconut. The batter will be lumpy. See photo above for a visual.

Spoon/pour batter evenly into each cake pan. Bake for around 22-25 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. Remember to rotate the pans halfway through baking to ensure even baking. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.

Make the frosting: 

In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners&#8217; sugar, 1 Tablespoon coconut milk/cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add 1 more Tablespoon of milk/cream to thin out, if desired.

Assemble and frost: 

First, using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with a thin layer of frosting, then half of the lemon curd. Top with 2nd layer and evenly cover the top with a thin layer of frosting, then the remaining lemon curd. Finish with the third cake layer and spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides. Garnish the top with coconut and/or lemon slices. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before cutting or else the cake may fall apart as you cut.

Just made this recipe for my daughter's birthday and it was a hit! I made a lemon cream cheese frosting though as she wanted more lemon!  I will definitely be making this cake again and again! Do you happen to know the approximate nutritional values as I would love to serve this for my mom and she has to track her carb count for diabetes.

This cake's texture is by *far* the best of the many coconut cake recipes I've tried over the years. Flavor's delicious but very sweet--I recommend unsweetened coconut. I needed more frosting than this recipe made because the texture of the coconut made the frosting stick &amp; could not make a truly thin coat between layers. Biggest issue was construction--like several other reviewers I had difficulty with sliding due to the slickness of the lemon curd. I'd love some technical tips on construction--will make again, would rather avoid holding together with dowels!

I don’t know what I did wrong but the cake was very dense and one layer completely broke apart into 4 parts when I tried to assemble it. Everything was cool so not sure why this was a failure. Also didn’t seem to have nearly enough icing to cover the cake had I been able to put it together. Disappointing!

The cake is delicious. The lemon curd is fantastic. And the frosting is yummy. The problem is that, like many others, assembling three 8-inch cakes on top of each other is almost impossible. I cut the tops off and went slowly, but I still ended up with a two-layer cake and a trifle made with broken cake and leftover curd and icing.

I have been baking for many years and this wasn't my first layer cake. But something needs to be changed with this recipe as it doesn't work as written when it comes to stacking the cakes.

My cake ended up being very dry even though the only ingredient I omitted was the coconut milk, instead adding a cup of Buttermilk. The cake was split into two pans instead of 3 &amp; it was perfectly baked. Any clues as to why it is dry &amp; crumbly?

I made this cake in January and it was delicious! I followed it to the letter other than adding a bit of lemon zest to the frosting. I removed one star because it was a disastrous assembly. Lemon curd and icing was flowing out from between the layers and onto the counter. I'm making this again this weekend, and I'm going to try chilling the curd and icing a bit first. It might be more difficult to spread while cold, but that would be better than a quarter of it ending up on my counter again.

Moist and Delicious!  Second time baking this cake - can you possibly suggest an alternative to the cream cheese frosting?  I'm making it for my daughter's birthday, and while she absolutely loves lemon and coconut, she doesn't care for cream cheese frosting.  I know that the texture of the frosting is important to holding the layers...do you think buttercream would work? I'll be making it in four rectangular layers so it's important that the layers hold up well.  I'm assembling and decorating it tomorrow.  Sorry for the last-minute question!

A delicious &amp; lovely cake. I put some frosting in a pastry bag &amp; after applying a thin coat of frosting on top of the layer, I created a “dam” around the edge w/the frosting in the pastry bag &amp; spread the curd in the center. I placed that layer in the freezer for under 10 minutes. Repeated for the next layer. I only had enough frosting for basically a heavy crumb coat on the sides. But I covered the sides with toasted coconut &amp; it looked perfect! The curd took 25 minutes of whisking but set up quickly when I added  COLD butter cubed. I used 8 inch pans , total baking time was 25minutes Definitely a new family favorite!! Thank you Sally for another wonderful recipe!!

Hi Sally, I was curious as to what you thought about adding your lemon curd recipe to your "fluffy and moist coconut cake" recipe and wondering why the recipes for the cake layers is different in these two coconut cakes. Thanks again for sharing amazing recipes with us!

Tender, Fluffy Lemon Loaf Cake Topped with Cream Cheese Frosting, Coconut and Lemon Zest!

all purpose flour

coconut yogurt (I used full-fat coconut Greek yogurt)

eggs

coconut oil

almond extract

cream cheese (softened)

lemon zest

Shredded coconut and lemon zest (optional garnish)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and shredded coconut.

In a large bowl, whisk yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, coconut oil and almond extract until well combined. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well combined, the batter will be thick.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a rack to cool.

Cake:

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until combined. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon milk, extract and lemon zest and beat until combined. If the frosting is too thick add additional milk to thin it out.Spread the frosting on the cooled cake and top with shredded coconut and lemon zest.

Frosting:

https://embed.mediavine.com/videos/ipwPDeVId

Moist, Flavorful Homemade Lemon Coconut Cake! Tender, Fluffy Lemon Loaf Cake Topped with Cream Cheese Frosting, Coconut and Lemon Zest!

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Top 3 lemon coconut cake recipes from across the web

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Lemon Coconut Cake

Lemon Coconut Cake

Lemon Coconut Cake

The most viewed lemon coconut cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine