Yesterday we brought you some Halloween inspiration in the form of an all-white tabletop decked with bones and candles, and today we’re bringing you the recipe for this palette-perfect dessert: a coconut layer cake.
Of course, any white cake would do here but we liked the idea of coconut as a way to bring palette to the cake without having to go too vanilla. Topping it off with any white desserts (coconut shavings, white chocolate chips, or marshmallows and macarons like we did here) help finish off the look! We also used these plastic bones to tie in the theme.
Coconut Layer Cake // makes one 3-layer, 5-inch round cake
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. coconut extract
- ¾ cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350º F. Line the bottom of two 5-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients except for the boiling water.
Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then add the boiling water.
Fill cake pans to about ¼ inch from the top and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 28 minutes, until tops of cakes are browned and a toothpick test comes out clean. Let the cakes cool slightly and then turn onto a cooling rack.
Fill one of the cake pans with batter and bake the final layer. Note: If you don’t want to frost the cake right away, you can wrap each layer in plastic wrap and freeze until you’re ready to frost. The cake will stay moist if frozen vs. refrigerated.
After the layers have cooled, use a serrated knife to level the top of your cakes. Scoop enough frosting on top of each layer to spread evenly. Stack all the layers, with the top of the cake being the flat side from the cake pan mold. Use an icing spatula to spread a thin crumb coat around the edges and on top of the cake. Add an additional layer of frosting to cover the cake and use a bench scraper to smooth out the sides. Decorate the cake as desired!
