A tender cake with a lightly caramel flavored coconut crunch topping and a sweet coconut glaze. Make this your “go to” cake. You won’t regret it!
Have you ever baked or made something that’s kinda fugly yet super delicious?
You feel me, right?
That’s this Coconut Crunch Cake. Fugly. But I love it. It’s like loving a Sasquatch.
A baby one.
This cake ain’t pretty.
I assure you, though – It is one of the best cakes you’ll eat this year. I promised myself I would photograph it and post it, regardless of looks. You need to know about it.
It starts with a sweetened flaked coconut mixed with melted coconut oil and spread on the bottom of a well-buttered bundt pan. The cake batter is amazing, yet simple. Coconut oil is mixed with butter for a nice, light coconutty taste. Sour cream and buttermilk give this cake tenderness and rise.
So what makes this cake fugly? Well… It’s the unmolding of this cake. It ain’t pretty. I tried more than once to unmold this cake intact; to umold it in such a way, the coconut crunch sits prettily on top of this cake. I tried to remove the coconut that gets stuck on the bottom of the bundt pan. It’s futile. Useless. Don’t even try. The coconut becomes crunchy and because of that blessed Maillard Reaction the coconut topping has a slight caramel flavor. Scrape that situation and place it ever so gently on top of the cake.
Then glaze that shit. And eat it.
Is it pretty?
No, it’s not. I tried my best with these photos and still.
Not pretty.
Is it easy to make?
Yah. It is. Trust me.
Is it delicious?
F*** yeah.
And that’s all you need to know.
- Yield: 12
- Prep Time: 7 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
Nutrition facts (per portion)
- Calories: Don't even think about calories here.
- Sugar Content: Um... Loads.
Coconut Crunch Cake
Ingredients
- For the coconut crunch
- Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup
- Sweetened flaked coconut - 1/2 cup
- Melted coconut oil - 1 1/2 tablepoons
- For the cake
- All-purpose flour - 3 cups, scooped then leveled
- Salt - 1 teaspoon
- Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
- Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
- Granulated sugar - 2 cups
- Unsalted butter, room temperature - 1/2 cup (1 stick)
- Coconut oil - 1/2 cup
- Eggs, large at room temperature - 4
- Sour cream - 1/4 cup
- Buttermilk - 3/4 cup
- Coconut milk - 1/4 cup
- Vanilla bean paste - 1 1/2 tablespoons
- Coconut extract or sweetened cream of coconut - 1 teaspoon
- For the glaze
- Confectioners sugar - 1 cup
- Milk, preferably coconut - 2 tablespoons
- Sweetened creamed of coconut (such as Coco Lopez) or vanilla extract - 1 tablespoon
Instructions
Bake the cake:
Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Liberally (take liberties with it!) butter and flour a 10 inch bundt pan (or an angel food cake tube ban). In a small bowl combine sweetened flaked coconut and coconut oil. Mix until combined and briefly set aside. Sprinkle sugar on the bottom of the bundt pan (or tube pan) and sprinkle the sweetened flaked coconut mixture over the sugar. Set the pan aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix briefly with a fork to combine and set aside.
In a measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and coconut milk, stirring briefly.
In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (a hand mixer works here as well) over medium/high speed, cream the sugar, butter, and coconut oil until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stop and scrape the mixer. Add the sour cream, vanilla bean paste, and coconut cream. Mix until combined. Stop and scrape the mixer once more to incorporate ingredients.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and alternate the flour mixture and buttermilk/coconut milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until ingredients are moistened. If you see flour bits, it's cool. Stop the mixer, remove the bowl and gently fold the batter onto itself about 3-4 times (no more or your cake will be tough), making sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate all ingredients.
Place in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes (depending on your oven situation), or until cake tester or wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. My cake was done around 52 minutes, but your oven may differ from mine. I suggest you start checking around the 45 minute mark.
Remove cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes or so. Periodically run a knife around the edges of the pan
to help loosen the cake. After 10 minutes or so carefully remove cake from the pan, scraping the sides, and place in a large cake platter and allow to cool completely before glazing.
Make the glaze:
In a small bowl combine confectioners' sugar, coconut milk (or regular milk), and Coco Lopez (or vanilla extract). Mix with a fork until combined and drizzle over the cake.
Some notes:
The coconut topping may get stuck to the bottom of the pan (shit happens, yo). If this happens, scrape the coconut topping, sprinkle evenly over the cake, then drizzle the glaze. It will be alright.
Adapted from Food.com
