Coconut Cream Cake — The Hawaiian-Themed Birthday

Dustin turned nineteen Saturday. His parents drove up from Memphis for the weekend — the four-hour drive on a Friday afternoon — because they wanted to throw him a small Hawaiian-themed birthday in our dorm common room. Dustin’s mother grew up on Oahu in the seventies before her family moved to Memphis when she was twelve, and Hawaiian-themed birthday parties have been the Bryant family tradition for every birthday since Dustin was three years old. The theme is always the same: tropical fruit, coconut anything, leis for the birthday person, a single hula song played at the start, his mother’s aloha-print tablecloth, and a cake that looks like it could have been served at a luau in Waikiki.

Dustin’s mom called me Wednesday on the phone. We hadn’t officially met yet — the parents’ visit was the meet-the-family weekend — but she had gotten my number from Dustin and called from her kitchen in Memphis at six PM Central. She asked me if I’d be willing to make the birthday cake for Dustin’s party. She said Dustin had been telling her about my cooking since the third week of seminar, that he’d sent her a photo of the slow-cooker monkey bread, that he’d described the mushroom potato soup in detail, and that she wanted to taste my cooking before she met me. The pressure was real. I had three days to bake a cake for the woman who had built the Hawaiian-themed-birthday tradition that I would now be participating in.

I made the cake Saturday morning starting at seven AM in the dorm kitchen. Coconut cream cake: from-scratch white cake layers with coconut milk in the batter and pure coconut extract for the flavor amplification, a coconut cream cheese frosting that goes between every layer and on the outside, and a final coating of toasted shredded coconut pressed into the frosting on the sides and sprinkled across the top. Three thin layers in three nine-inch round pans, a generous frosting layer between each, three layers and three frosting layers stacked into a tall cake that reads like a small wedding cake when it’s finished. Bright white interior, snowy with toasted coconut on the outside, the kind of dessert that looks like the photograph in a Hawaiian bakery window.

The cake batter: two and three-quarters cups of cake flour, a tablespoon of baking powder, a teaspoon of salt; one stick of butter creamed with one and a half cups of granulated sugar for three full minutes until pale and fluffy; four large egg whites added one at a time (egg whites only, not whole eggs — the whites keep the cake bright white instead of yellow); two teaspoons of pure vanilla extract; a teaspoon of pure coconut extract (the supermarket kind is fine; just use real coconut extract, not coconut flavoring); the dry ingredients alternated with one cup of full-fat coconut milk. Divided evenly between three buttered-and-floured nine-inch round pans. Baked at three-fifty for twenty-two minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks.

The coconut cream cheese frosting: two eight-ounce blocks of full-fat cream cheese softened completely (room temperature, three hours minimum — cold cream cheese does not blend smoothly into a frosting and you cannot rush this step); one cup of softened butter; six cups of powdered sugar sifted; two teaspoons of pure vanilla; a teaspoon of pure coconut extract; two tablespoons of full-fat coconut milk to loosen the frosting to a spreadable consistency. Beat with a hand mixer for five full minutes until light and fluffy and the texture of high-end frosting.

For the toasted coconut: two cups of sweetened shredded coconut spread on a sheet pan and toasted at three-fifty for eight minutes, stirring twice, until the coconut is uniformly golden and smelling like a beach in July. Cool completely.

Assembly: stack the cake layers with frosting between each, frost the outside with a thin crumb coat first, refrigerate fifteen minutes, then frost the outside with a generous final coat. Press the toasted coconut into the frosting on the sides with the heel of your hand and sprinkle the rest across the top.

Dustin’s mom tasted the cake at the party Saturday afternoon at six PM and didn’t say anything for a full minute. She set the fork down on her plate. She looked at the cake. She looked at me. Then she stood up from the folding chair, walked across the common room, and hugged me without saying anything. She held the hug for ten seconds. Then she stepped back, looked at me again, and said, very quietly, “Honey, you’re going to make my son very happy in life. Come down to Memphis for fall break. I want to feed you for once.” Dustin’s dad watched all of this from the couch and did not say anything except “yes ma’am” when she asked him if it was the best coconut cake he’d ever had. I now have a Memphis trip on the calendar for October fourteenth. Linda’s wedding is next weekend.

Egg whites only, full-fat coconut milk, real coconut extract. Press the toasted coconut by hand. Here’s the cake.

Coconut Cream Cake

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 box (15.25 oz) yellow cake mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can (13.5 oz) cream of coconut (such as Coco López)
• 1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Instructions

1. Preheat and prepare. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
2. Mix the batter. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, and coconut milk. Stir until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake the cake. Bake for 28–32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven.
4. Poke and soak. While the cake is still hot, use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the surface. Stir together the sweetened condensed milk and cream of coconut, then pour evenly over the cake, letting it soak into the holes. Let cool completely.
5. Top and finish. Spread the thawed whipped topping evenly over the cooled cake. Sprinkle toasted shredded coconut over the top.
6. Chill and serve. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve cold, cut into squares.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 66g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 320mg