The past few things I’ve made for the weekly Cakes & Bakes post have been pretty easy and speedy. Today’s coconut pecan cake is also pretty easy – however, the multiple stages take that little bit longer.
If you’re in the mood to spend a lazy, rainy morning baking this is a great cake to try. The recipe is the work of Dolester Miles (or ‘Dol’ as she prefers) who last month (May 2018) won the prestigious James Beard Foundation pastry chef award.
If you’ve not got the luxury of a few hours in a single day, it’s easy to spread the steps over two or three days and bring everything together on the final day.
As the chef (and her recipe) is from Alabama, a couple of the ingredients may be a bit unfamiliar to us Brits. The cream of coconut is the thick, syrupy, sweet tinned stuff that you can use to make piña colada. The sweetened, shredded coconut seems to be similar to the dessicated coconut we get here in the UK, but it appears to be shaved rather finely grated. I used dessicated in the custard filling, but used Tree of Life organic coconut chips in the cake batter and toasted on the top and sides.
I don’t think I’ve incorporated a custard filling into a sponge cake before, it works really well. And I’ll save the recipe for a doughnut filling (when I eventually get round to making those for Cakes & Bakes!).
Once all the component parts have been prepared, it’s simply a case of building up the layers and then coating. I think the colour and textures are very attractive – perfect to display in our recently purchased glass cake dome.
It’s a substantial cake, but light and airy too – coconutty and moist. Absolutely delicious – I’d be very happy if I was served a slice of this in a tea shop!
Here’s Dol making her now-even-more-famous coconut pecan cake!
Click here to save Dol’s coconut pecan cake recipe to Pinterest!
- 85g/3oz firmly packed sweetened shredded coconut
- 74g/2⅔oz pecan halves, toasted
- 402g/14oz granulated sugar
- 287g/10oz plain flour
- 1tbsp baking powder
- ¾tsp kosher salt
- 170g/6oz unsalted butter, softened, plus more to grease the tins
- 60ml/2fl oz cream of coconut
- 4 large eggs
- ¼tsp coconut extract (optional)
- 270ml/9½fl oz unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 230g/8oz sweetened condensed milk
- 57g/2oz unsalted butter
- 1tbsp cream of coconut
- 85g/3oz sweetened shredded coconut
- 101g/3½oz granulated sugar
- 235ml/8 fl oz water
- 240ml/8½ fl oz double cream
- 31g/1oz icing sugar
- 1tbsp coconut extract (optional)
- 170g/6oz sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
- Heat oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
- Grease two 9-inch round cake tins and line the bottom of each with parchment paper
- Finely grind the coconut in a food processor, then transfer to a bowl
- Add the pecans to the food processor, along with 2tbsps of the sugar, and finely grind together
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt
- Stir in the ground coconut and pecans
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream of coconut and the remaining sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as necessary, then beat in the coconut extract
- Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the coconut milk, starting and ending with the flour mixture
- Divide the batter equally between the tins and smooth the top of each with a spatula
- Bake until the cakes are golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean, 30 to 35 minutes
- Allow the cakes cool in the tins on a wire rack for 30 minutes
- Run a knife around the edge of each cake, invert onto a wire rack and remove the parchment. Allow to cool completely
- Place the egg yolks into a small, heatproof bowl and set aside
- In a saucepan, combine the condensed milk, butter and cream of coconut and cook over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly until hot, about 4 minutes
- Whisk ⅓ of the hot milk into the egg yolks
- Transfer the egg mixture to the saucepan of milk and whisk constantly over medium-low heat until mixture has the consistency of custard, about 4 minutes. Don't allow the mixture to get too thick
- Transfer to a bowl and stir in the shredded coconut. Allow to cool completely
- In a saucepan, heat the sugar and water, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved
- Remove from the heat
- Cut each cake in half horizontally
- Place one layer in the bottom of a /9-inch cake tin, moisten the top with 2 to 3 tablespoons simple syrup and spread ⅓ of the coconut filling in a thin, even layer with an offset spatula
- Repeat to make 2 more layers of cake and filling, then place the last layer on the top
- Refrigerate the cake for about 1 hour
- To remove, run a spatula around the edges, invert a cake plate over the top, and flip the cake over onto the plate
- Whip the cream with the icing sugar and coconut extract until stiff peaks form
- Spread on the top and sides of the cake and sprinkle with toasted coconut
- Refrigerate until ready to serve