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Raspberry Coconut Cake topped with raspberries and coconut fudge truffles

Raspberry Coconut Cake

This Raspberry Coconut Cake is full of coconut flavor, filled with coconut fudge, and raspberry jam. Topped with a Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting, and coconut fudge truffles!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cake, coconut, raspberry
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings 10 people
Calories 420 kcal
Author camila

Ingredients

Coconut Cake

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (4 oz, 113 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 7 oz, 200 grams
  • 3/4 cup coconut milk 177 ml**
  • 1/3 cup coconut yogurt* 78 ml
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or coconut extract
  • 2 cups cake flour 9 oz, 255 grams
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 4 egg whites

Coconut Fudge

  • 1 can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk 14 oz, 396 grams
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk

Raspberry Jam***

  • 5  oz  raspberries frozen or fresh about 1 heaping cup
  • 2  tablespoons  maple syrup or sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 3  teaspoons  cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons  water

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 cup cream cheese 8 oz, 226 grams
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter 4 oz, 113 grams
  • 4 cups powdered sugar 18 oz, 510 grams
  • 2 tablespoons coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or coconut extract

Instructions

Coconut Cake

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. Spray or grease 4-6” cake pans, and line the bottom with a parchment paper circle. Alternatively, you can use 2-8” cake pans, but your cake won’t have 3 layers of filling, but only 2 when assembling it.
  2. Add butter to the bowl of an electric mixer.
  3. Cream butter for 1 minute.
  4. Add sugar and oil. Cream together with the butter for another minute until fluffy and lightened in color, at medium high speed.
  5. Add coconut milk, yogurt, and vanilla (or coconut) extract.
  6. Mix until combined.
  7. Sift flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the bowl. Mix with a spatula to combine.
  8. Beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks, on a clean bowl, with clean beaters, at high speed, for 2-3 minutes.
  9. Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the cake batter. Fold to combine.
  10. Add another 1/3 of the stiff whites to the cake batter. Fold until incorporated.
  11. Then add the remaining egg whites to the cake batter. Fold gently until the batter is smooth and incorporated.
  12. Divide batter equally onto prepared pans.
  13. Bake on pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes. Time may vary, make sure to test if the cake is ready by poking the top gently with your finger. If the cake springs right back it means it’s ready to be removed from the oven.
  14. Once cakes are baked, remove them from the oven.
  15. Let cakes cool down for 10 minutes, then flip them onto a cooling rack.
  16. Let cakes cool completely before frosting.
  17. You can also wrap them in plastic, once they’ve cooled, and let them rest in the fridge overnight.

Coconut Fudge

  1. Place condensed milk, shredded coconut, and butter in a small saucepan.

  2. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring non stop. Once it gets to a boil, lower heat to medium-low.

  3. Don’t take your eyes off the fudge, and don’t stop stirring.
  4. Cook mixture for about 10 minutes, until it’s thick and you can see the bottom of the pan.
  5. When that happens, add coconut milk to the pan, and keep stirring non-stop, and bring it to a quick boil for another 2 minutes.
  6. Remove fudge to a small bowl. Let it cool completely.
  7. Don’t place it in the fridge, or it may become too firm to spread on the cake.
  8. You will have leftover fudge mixture. You can freeze it for up to 2 months, or leave it in the fridge for up to 1 week, covered. This stuff is really delicious and won’t go to waste, you will want to eat it with a spoon!

  9. If you want to make the truffles to put on top of the cake, the coconut fudge truffles is pretty much the same recipe for the filling, without the coconut milk, and needs to be cooked about 5 minutes longer. You can find a recipe for it here.

  10. Or, you can follow the steps until it’s time to add the coconut milk to the fudge truffles. At this point, remove half of the mixture to another small saucepan, mix only HALF of the coconut milk in (2 tablespoons), and cook for 1 minute. This will be used for the filling of the cake. Let it cool down on the counter until it’s room temperature.

  11. Return the other saucepan with the remaining fudge to the stove, and cook for another 5 minutes or so, stirring non-stop, until very thick. Remove to a small bowl and place it in the fridge. When this mixture becomes cold, you can lightly butter your hands, spoon some of the fudge and roll it between your buttered hands, then roll it into some shredded coconut, and place it on mini paper cups. Keep the fudge truffles in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Raspberry Jam

  1. Place raspberry, maple syrup (or sugar), and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes. If mixture becomes dry, add a tablespoon of water (or more lemon juice), to the pan.
  2. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water.
  3. Add it to the pan and cook for 1 minute until the jam is thick.
  4. Remove it to a small bowl. Let it cool in the fridge until completely chilled.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. Place butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. Cream on medium-high speed for about 90 seconds until very fluffy and light.
  2. Scrape the bowl.
  3. Sift powdered sugar.
  4. Add sifted powdered sugar and coconut milk to the bowl, along with the vanilla or coconut extract.
  5. Mix on low until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
  6. Raise speed to medium high and cream for another minute.
  7. Adjust consistency. If the frosting seems too thick, add a bit more coconut milk (about 1 teaspoon at a time) until you achieve a smoother consistency.
  8. If the frosting seems too runny, add some more powdered sugar, as necessary.
  9. Always keep this frosting covered while not using, because it will form a crust.
  10. You can make the frosting ahead and leave it in the fridge overnight, then take it out an hour before using to ensure it will be at room temperature to frost the cake. Also make sure to whisk it briefly before using to make it creamy and smooth again.

To assemble

  1. Place a cake layer on a cake plate or stand.
  2. Put some of the Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting in a piping bag and snip the end of the bag to form a small hole.
  3. Pipe a circle of frosting around the edges of the first cake layer. This is meant to keep the filling inside the cake without leaking out to the sides.
  4. Fill the bottom layer with about 1/3 cup of the cooled down Coconut Fudge.
  5. Spread evenly.
  6. Top with another cake layer.
  7. Pipe another circle of frosting around the edges of the cake.
  8. Spoon some of the raspberry jam in the middle of the cake.
  9. Top with another cake layer.
  10. Pipe another circle of frosting around the edges of the cake.
  11. Fill it with the coconut fudge.
  12. Top with the last cake layer.
  13. Frost cake with the Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting.
  14. I did a crumb coating, which means I spread a thin layer of frosting around the cake, and then placed the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes so the layer of frosting would set.
  15. This is called crumb coating, and it helps keep crumbs away from the final layer of frosting coating the cake.
  16. While the cake rests in the fridge, remember to keep the remaining frosting covered with plastic wrap, so it won’t form a crust.
  17. Then, remove the cake from the fridge and apply a thick coating of frosting.
  18. Place some frosting in a piping bag and pipe on top of the cake. Top with raspberries and the Coconut Fudge Truffles.

Storage

  1. This cake will store well in the fridge for up to 4 days, make sure to keep the leftovers covered.

Recipe Notes

*Yogurt: Regular yogurt, or even vanilla will work as well

**Coconut milk: Make sure to use coconut milk, not coconut water, not coconut juice, not coconut cream. Coconut milk can usually be found in the Thai food aisle, or in the baking aisle, and it comes in a can. There is about 1 1/2 cups of coconut milk in a can, and you will only need one 13.5 oz. can for this entire recipe including the cake layers, the filling, and the frosting.

***Raspberry Jam: If you don’t want to make your own raspberry jam, use store bought, you’ll need about 1/4 cup to fill the cake.

****Cake size: As reported by readers, if you bake the batter in the 8" pans, the cakes will be quite thin. So I recommend doubling the recipe, by simply doubling each ingredient, and then using 3-8" pans to bake the cakes.

Nutrition Facts
Raspberry Coconut Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 420
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.