It seems I have a bit of a thing for three layer cakes; if you use 15cm/6in pans
This lovely three layer passion fruit, white chocolate and coconut cake consists of moist coconut cake, brushed with passion fruit syrup for extra moisture and flavour; topped with smooth, fluffy white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and creamy, tangy passion fruit curd. It has a rich, creamy flavour from the coconut and white chocolate, and the passion fruit adds a burst of freshness; the bright yellow curd also makes it look very vibrant and summery.
The cakes get their coconut flavour from both coconut milk and desiccated coconut, I also added a bit of coconut extract, but don't worry if you can't find any, it is still perfectly coconutty without it. The passion fruit curd is really easy to make, and tastes so good! It is really just a case of stirring everything together over a low heat - simple. The only thing to remember is to not let it boil, so don't get impatient and turn the heat up too high or you may end up with sweet scrambled eggs...
The recipe makes more passion fruit curd than you need, but that is no bad thing; it will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge (so you can make it in advance), but the leftovers only lasted a couple of days in my house...It is seriously good piled on top of toast or swirled through yoghurt, or you can use it to fill tarts or cupcakes (or simply eat it by the spoonful...). You can use lemon curd in place of the passion fruit if you wish, to make an equally delicious lemon, coconut and white chocolate cake. You may also end up with a little leftover buttercream, but it freezes well and is handy to have in the freezer for emergency cake situations; just let it thaw to room temperature then re-whip it until it's smooth.
Passion Fruit, White Chocolate & Coconut Layer Cake
Ingredients
Passion Fruit Curd
- The pulp of 6 large passion fruit (about 120ml/1/2 cup)
- juice of ½ a lemon
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 150 g (¾ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 100 g (1 stick) butter, cubed
Cakes
- 150 ml (½ + ⅛ cup) full fat coconut milk
- 40 g (½ cup) unsweetened desiccated coconut
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon coconut extract optional
- 200 g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 170 g (⅔ cup + 1 tbsp) softened butter
- 2 large eggs
- 200 g (1 + ⅔ cup) plain flour
- 1 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
Passion Fruit Drizzle
- 3 large passion fruit
- 30 ml (2 tbsp) water
- 25 g (2 tbsp) sugar
White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 3 medium egg whites
- 140 g (¾ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 210 g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) butter, softened but still cool
- 150 g (5 oz) white chocolate, chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
Instructions
To Make The Passion Fruit Curd
- whisk together the passion fruit pulp, lemon juice, eggs, yolks and sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan until smooth. Add the butter and place the pan over a low heat. Stir constantly until the butter has melted and the curd has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, it should be the consistency of custard. Do not allow the mixture to boil or it may curdle. Pour the hot curd into a couple of sterilised jars and keep in the fridge.
Make The Cakes
- Place the coconut milk in a small pan and bring to the boil, remove from the heat and stir in the desiccated coconut then the vanilla and coconut extracts. Set aside for about half an hour until the mixture has cooled and the desiccated coconut has softened.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4, grease three 15cm/6in round cake tins and line the bases and sides with greaseproof paper.
- Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Fold it into the butter mixture a little at a time, alternating with spoonfuls of the cooled coconut mixture.
- Divide the batter between the prepared tins and level it, bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- While the cakes are baking make the passion fruit syrup. Press the passion fruit pulp through a sieve to extract the juice, really scrape the seeds to get as much juice as possible.
- Place the juice in a small pan (discard the seeds) with the water and sugar, heat until the sugar has dissolved.
- When the cakes are baked, place them on a wire rack (in their tins) and poke holes all over the surface with a toothpick. Brush the cakes with the syrup, giving them several coats until you have used all of the syrup. Leave the cakes to cool in their tins before turning out and removing the paper.
To Make The White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Melt the white chocolate either in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, or in short bursts in the microwave, set aside while you make the meringue.
- Place the egg whites and sugar in a large, spotlessly clean heatproof bowl (the bowl of your stand mixer if you have one) and place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. Gently whisk the mixture until the sugar has dissolved, if you rub some between your fingers you shouldn't feel any graininess. If should reach 60C/140F on a thermometer.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk on a high speed with an electric mixer until it has formed a thick, glossy meringue and is completely cool to the touch, about 10 minutes.
- Turn the speed down to low and add the butter a tablespoon at a time, whisking well after each addition, until you have added all the butter and the buttercream has become smooth and silky. It may become soupy or curdled looking, just keep whisking and it will come back together. (If it doesn't, you may need to add a couple of tablespoons more of butter. Or if it remains soupy, refrigerate it for 15-30 minutes then carry on whisking on a high speed. If it remains curdled, place a couple of heaped tablespoons of the mixture in a separate bowl and microwave it until it melts, then drizzle it back into the rest of the buttercream slowly, while whisking on a high speed.)
- Once the buttercream is smooth, whisk in the vanilla paste on a low speed, then fold in the white chocolate (which by now should have cooled, but still be melted).
- Place the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a large, plain nozzle.
Assemble
- Scoop some of the passion fruit curd into a piping bag and snip of the corner just wide enough for the pips to pass through.
- Place one cake layer on a cake stand or serving platter, pipe blobs of buttercream all over the surface (pipe a ring of blobs around the edge then another inside that etc), drizzle over a very generous amount of the passion fruit curd. Top with another cake layer and repeat, then again with the final layer.
I am sharing this with Cook Blog Share hosted by Supergolden Bakes and Patisserie Makes Perfect, Totally Talented Tuesdays, Create Link Inspire, Foodie Fridiy, Fiesta Friday, Foodie Friends Friday, Friday Favourites and Fabulous Foodie Fridays
Girl and the Kitchen
O.M.G. Did you know passionfruit is my favorite?!? I love a good passionfruit mousse on a light cake 🙂 This looks gorgeously messy and perfect all at the same time! Pinned! If i ever have time to do a layer cake...this will be the one 🙂
hannahhossack
Thank you! My favourite dessert when I was growing up was a passion fruit version of key lime pie, I haven't had it in years but am going to have to make some for the blog so stay tuned for that! 🙂
Sandhya
This is absolutely fabulous! I am drooling!
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
Oh wow this looks amazing. Passion fruit is definitely one of my favourite fruits x #bakeoftheweek
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂 I love it too 🙂
cookingwithauntjuju.com
Your cake sure looks yummy especially with the passion fruit curd dripping down the sides. Thanks for sharing a delicious cake with Angie and all of the party goers at FF #69 🙂
hannahhossack
Thank you! 🙂
GFLife247
This looks beautiful as always. I love all three layers. Thanks for sharing, and happy FF! Enjoy your weekend. 🙂
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂
Amanda @ The Chunky Chef
Your cakes always look so amazing... you're my baking hero!! So summery and fresh 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing with us at Fiesta Friday this week 😀 Pinned, yummed, and stumbled!
hannahhossack
Aww thanks Amanda! Very kind of you 🙂
Zamamabakes
Seriously wow!
This cake looks amazing, all those delicious layers and flavours, you're one very clever lady.
Thanks for joining in with our Fabulous Foodie Friday fun.
Have gorgeous weekend xx
hannahhossack
Thank you! 🙂 x
patisseriemakesperfect
Hannah this is amazing, I absolutely love it! White Chocolate Swiss buttercream sounds so good. #CookBlogShare
hannahhossack
Thank Angela 🙂 it is really good...like a cross between ganache and mousse 🙂
Julie is Hostess At Heart
Hannah, this is such a beautiful cake. You are the cake goddess! I've never used passion fruit before, but this has convinced me that I need to try!
hannahhossack
Thanks Julie! I don't use passion fruit very often as they're a bit expensive but I love them and have been craving it for a while so gave in...the passion fruit curd was amazing! 🙂
Loretta
Absolutely salivating with this gorgeous cake with some amazing flavors! I'm always afraid that a layered cake may not cut as well, so I've tried a double layered, but never a tripe tiered cake. Bravo!
hannahhossack
Thank you! The secret to slicing it neatly is to use a hot knife! Run boiling water over the blade, dry it and slice, repeat after each cut and you'll get perfect slices 🙂
Dee @ Master Chefette
Yummmmmm, this looks flippin' amazing!
hannahhossack
Thank you! 🙂
carolinescookingblog
Wow that looks absolutely gorgeous and I love passion fruit. Not such a fan of white, chocolate, though, so might have to vary that bit if I ever make this!
hannahhossack
Thanks Caroline 🙂 It would work just as well if you replaced the white chocolate with an equal quantity of dark - dark chocolate is delicious with passion fruit and coconut!
aiming4simple
Such an exquisite cake! I'll have to look for 15 cm tins. I love all things passion fruit; I only wish they were not so hard to come by in Canada...
hannahhossack
Thank you! Passion fruit are a bit expensive in the UK so although I love them I don't buy them very often 🙁
Dragons And Fairy Dust
Such a pretty cake and I love the way it has passion fruit in. Gorgeous
hannahhossack
Thank you!
skd
Beautiful cake and lovely flavors
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂
coconutcraze
Wow, such a beautiful, tall cake! Love the white chocolate meringue!
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂 I've got a bit of a thing for tall cakes!
sarahgiebens
Oh man... *DROOL*
This cake looks stunning! YUMM!
hannahhossack
Lol! Thank you!
Justine @ Born and Bred in Brooklyn
Such a gorgeous cake. I've been meaning to bake with passion fruit and this would be the perfect thing to make.
hannahhossack
Thank you! I love baking with passion fruit, if only they weren't so expensive here..
Vasun
Delicious flavour combinations!
hannahhossack
Thank you 🙂
Chloé
Hello! My sister and I fell in love with this cake and I want to make it for her 30th birthday party. I will have about three hours after landing from abroad. Will that be enough? (I am a relatively good baker). I've never done Swiss Meringue Buttercream, it seems a little tricky, could I replace with another type which will work with adding white chocolate?
Thank you!
Congratulations on your beautiful creations!
hannahhossack
Hi Chloe, Thank you! It is a very delicious cake 🙂 Three hours is a bit tight but should be do-able if you don't have any distractions! I would start by doing the first step of the cake - soaking the coconut, as that needs to soak for about half an hour; then I would make the passion fruit curd while it is soaking then get back to making the cakes. Swiss meringue buttercream isn't difficult but it can be a bit temperamental, it is worth the effort though as it is so light and delicious! You could use a basic white chocolate American buttercream (butter, icing sugar, cream, white chocolate) for which there are many recipes, though bear in mind that it will be sweeter than a Swiss meringue so you will probably need a bit less. Alternatively you could try the buttercream used in this recipe: http://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/easiest-ever-white-chocolate-fudge-cake/9941.html which is a white chocolate cooked flour frosting, I haven't tried that particular recipe but cooked flour frosting is amazing! Much nicer than American buttercream but easier than Swiss meringue. Just make sure that your cakes have time to cool completely before you ice them! Hope that helps and you manage to make it in time!
Chloé.
Thanks a lot! I'll try the 3 different buttercreams in small quantities this weekend and see which I prefer doing under pressure next weekend. I can't wait! I'll let you know how it went. Know that it will be for a very hip big party in Paris (France!), and I'll credit the recipe to you (if it all goes well!).