This is one impressive cake! It's a true labor of love, and will be sure to wow your friends and family!
Course Dessert
Prep Time 5 hourshours
Cook Time 3 hourshours20 minutesminutes
Total Time 8 hourshours20 minutesminutes
Servings 10people
Calories 400kcal
Ingredients
Cake
1/2cupunsalted buttersoftened (4 oz)
3/4cupgranulated sugar
2large eggsroom temperature
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
1 3/4cupall-purpose flour
2teaspoonsbaking powder
1/4teaspoonsalt
3/4cupbuttermilkroom temperature
Coconut custard
1egg yolkfrom a large egg
1/4cupgranulated sugar
1tablespooncornstarch
1teaspoonall-purpose flour
1/2cupwhole milk
1/4cupcoconut milk
1/2cupshredded coconut
1tablespoonunsalted butterat room temperature
1teaspoonvanilla extract
Lemon curd
4tablespoonslemon zestsee note 2
1/2cuplemon juicesee note 2
1 1/3cupgranulated sugar
1/2cupunsalted butterroom temperature (4 oz)
4large eggs
1/4teaspoonsalt
Italian meringue buttercream
5large egg whitesat room temperature
1/4teaspoonsalt
2cupsof unsalted buttercut into 1 inch pieces, room temperature
1cupsugardivided
1/4cupwater
3teaspoonsvanilla extract
To soak cake
Instructions
Cake
Grease and flour 4 6” cake pans, or 2 8” cake pans.
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer for 2 minutes, on medium speed. Gradually add sugar and cream for 3 minutes until mixture is fluffy and lighter in color.
Add eggs to the mixture, one at a time, mixing on medium speed. Scrape bowl and add vanilla. Mix on medium-low speed until incorporated.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt.
Add half of the buttermilk to butter/egg/sugar mixture. Mix on low for 30 seconds. Add half of sifted flour mixture. Mix on low for 30-45 seconds until almost entirely incorporated.
Add remaining buttermilk and mix on low for 30 seconds. Add remaining flour and mix on low until incorporated.
Divide batter evenly between your cake pans.
Bake on pre-heated oven for about 20-25 minutes. Smaller cake pans will take less time to bake.
Remove cake from the oven when a toothpick comes out clean once inserted in the cake.
Let cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes and flip it over in a wire rack to let it cool completely before proceeding with frosting and filling.
Coconut custard
Whisk egg yolk and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl until egg is lighter in color. Add cornstarch and flour to the bowl and whisk.
In a medium sauce pan, bring milk, coconut milk and shredded coconut to a boil over medium heat. Once you start to see the first bubbles forming in the surface, turn heat off.
Slowly add a little bit (about 1/4 cup) of the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture, while whisking non-stop. This is called tempering the eggs.
Add the rest of the hot milk to the egg mixture slowly, while whisking.
Once milk and egg mixture have been incorporated, transfer mixture back to saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, while stirring with a wooden spoon, nonstop.
Let mixture come to a boil and keep stirring until it’s thick and creamy. It will take a few minutes for that to happen. Don’t have your heat too high and don’t stop stirring.
Remove from heat, transfer mixture to a bowl. Wait about 5 minutes, stir butter and vanilla in until butter is completely melted.
Put some plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard, to make sure it won’t form a skin as it cools down. Place custard in the fridge until it’s completely cooled down.
Lemon Curd
Cream butter at medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer. Slowly add sugar and lemon zest to butter and keep creaming at medium speed for a few minutes, until mixture is light in color and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, waiting until egg has been completely incorporated before adding the next one.
Add salt. And finally, add lemon juice, and stir on low speed.
Pour mixture in a small sauce pan and bring it to a boil over medium heat, while stirring nonstop.
You are looking for a very thick and creamy curd. Don’t stop stirring, don’t look away.
The temperature of the curd should be reaching 170F.
When that happens, remove from heat and pour into a heat proof bowl.
Let it cool in the fridge.
Italian meringue buttercream
Place egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Mix water and 3/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar melts.
Once sugar melts and syrup starts to boil, stop stirring and insert a candy thermometer in the pan.
When that happens, start whipping egg whites on medium speed. When whites reach soft peaks, add 1/4 cup sugar and salt to it. Keep whipping on medium-high until it reaches stiff peaks, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, keep an eye on your syrup that is still cooking.
Allow syrup to cook until it reaches softball stage (235-240F)
Once syrup reaches softball stage, remove from heat and slowly pour into stiff egg whites, with mixer running on medium-low.
Once all syrup has been poured into whites, turn speed up to high and keep whipping for several minutes until bowl isn’t so hot to the touch anymore.
This may take as long as 10-15 minutes sometimes.
Slowly start to add butter pieces with mixer running.
Add vanilla extract.
The meringue will slowly cream up and firm up.
A little trick is to place soft butter in the fridge right before you start making the meringue, this way butter will be a bit colder but not too cold, which will help tremendously to achieve the perfect meringue consistency.
Another little trick, if your buttercream is soupy and doesn’t seem to be firming up, place the bowl in the freezer for about 5-8 minutes. Remove from freezer and start whipping again. This will probably happen when you don't wait for the meringue to cool down enough before starting to add the butter.
To assemble cake
Place one cake layer in your plate or cake stand of choice. Brush it all over with your soaking liquid of choice. Don’t make it too wet, just make sure to brush the entire surface and make sure the cake is absorbing all the liquid.
Place a bit of Italian meringue buttercream frosting in a piping bag. Cut a 1/2” hole in the tip of the bag, or use a 1/2” round tip and pipe a border on top of the cake, so you can fill the cake with the lemon curd and coconut custard and not have those leak out of the cake. The frosting will act as a barrier.
After piping the border on top of the cake, all around the edges, pour some lemon curd on the center and spread it evenly.
Place the next cake on top.
Repeat all the same procedures: brush cake with soaking liquid, pipe border on top, along the edges, and spread some of the coconut custard in the middle of the cake this time.
Do this one more time, using the lemon curd, at last.
Top with the last cake layer.
Frost cake with Italian meringue buttercream.
I like to make a crumb coat before frosting the cake.
A crumb coat is when you frost the cake with a small amount of frosting, to seal the crumbs into the cake.
Place the cake in the refrigerator for a half an hour, for the crumb coat to solidify, before proceeding.
Notes
Note 1- You might have some lemon curd and Italian meringue buttercream leftovers. About the lemon curd, you can spoon it over scones, cakes, use it as macaron filling, cupcake fillings, the possibilities are endless. About the Italian Meringue Buttercream, it will keep for a day or so at room temperature, in a closed container. You can store it in the fridge, well covered, for about 5 days. Or freeze for about 2 months. Before using the Italian meringue buttercream out of the fridge or freezer, let it come to room temperature first, then whip it with your mixer, until it’s creamy again.Note 2- You will need about 3-4 lemons to obtain 4 tablespoons of zest and 1/2 cup of juice