Raspberry, coconut and lemon layer cake - a gorgeous cake for Spring with coconut cake layers, raspberry buttercream and lemon curd. This post is sponsored by Lio-Licious.
The weather seems to have finally taken a turn for the better and today we have blue skies and sunshine. I am hoping for a sunny Easter weekend, though that may just be wishful thinking. Whatever the weather, this lovely raspberry, coconut and lemon layer cake would make a wonderful celebration cake for Easter; or any Springtime event.
The cake consists of three layers of soft, moist coconut cake, with light, creamy raspberry buttercream and tangy lemon curd between the layers.
To make the raspberry buttercream, I added freeze dried raspberry powder to a cooked flour frosting. Using freeze dried powder enables you to get a strong raspberry flavour without risking the buttercream splitting due to adding too much extra liquid.
It also gives the buttercream a beautiful, all-natural pink colour; no need to use any artificial colourings here! It would also work with strawberry, cherry, blackcurrant or blueberry powder instead of the raspberry.
Whole and crushed freeze dried raspberries also make brilliant edible decorations for the cake.
I pressed handfuls of crushed freeze dried raspberries around the bottom of the cake; and decorated the top with whole and crushed raspberries, a sprinkling of desiccated coconut, a few sprigs of mint and some dried rosebuds.
I used Lio-Licious freeze dried raspberries to make this cake. They make a wide range of freeze dried fruit products which I love, as well as things like freeze dried cheeses and olives; which I am very keen to try baking bread with!
The coconut cakes are really delicious and have a lovely soft, moist texture but they are a little crumbly due to the coconut in them. If you prefer then the raspberry buttercream would also be delicious paired with my vanilla cake or chocolate cake instead.
I baked my cakes in three 15cm/6 inch round tins; because you know I like my cakes tall! If you don't have three 15cm tins then the mixture can be baked in two 20cm/8in ones instead (it will probably take a little longer to cook in that case).
Raspberry, Coconut and Lemon Layer Cake Recipe:
Raspberry, Coconut And Lemon Layer Cake
Ingredients
Coconut Cakes:
- 160 ml (⅔ cup) full fat coconut milk
- 40 g (½ cup) unsweetened desiccated coconut
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coconut extract optional
- 175 g (¾ cup) butter softened
- 200 g (1 cup) caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 200 g (1 + ⅔ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
Raspberry Buttercream:
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cups) full fat milk
- 6 tablespoon plain (all-purpose) flour
- 270 g (1 cup + 2 Tbsp) softened butter
- 270 g (1 ⅓ cups) caster sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 5 tablespoon freeze dried raspberry powder
To Fill And Decorate:
- about 4 heaped spoonfuls lemon curd
- crushed and whole freeze dried raspberries
- desiccated coconut
- mint sprigs
- dried rosebuds (optional)
Instructions
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 (or two 20cm/8in ones) and line the bases and sides with baking 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 middle 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.
- Leave the cakes to cool in their tins.
Buttercream:
- Whisk together the milk and flour in a small pan until smooth. Place over a medium-low heat and whisk constantly until the mixture is very thick and paste-like. Scrape into a bowl, cover with clingfilm directly on the surface and refrigerate until completely cold.
- Once the flour mixture is cold, place the butter and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk on high speed for a good few minutes until extremely light and fluffy. Whisk in the vanilla and salt.
- Whisk in the flour mixture a tablespoon at a time, whisking well after each addition, until it has all been mixed in and the buttercream is completely smooth, it should almost have the consistency of whipped cream.
- Finally whisk in the freeze dried raspberry powder.
Assembly:
- Place one of the cake layers on a cake stand or serving platter. Put a large dollop of the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle.
- Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the first cake layer then pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge (this acts as a dam to stop the lemon curd from leaking out.). Fill the middle with a couple of heaped spoonfuls of lemon curd.
- Place another cake layer on top and press down very gently. Repeat the same process as the previous layer then place the final cake layer on top; upside down so that the top of the cake is perfectly flat.
- Spread a very thin layer of buttercream all over the cake then place it in the fridge for half an hour to firm up a little.
- Spread another, thicker layer of buttercream over the cake; using a leveler or palette knife to get it as smooth as possible.
- Take a handful of crushed freeze dried raspberries and carefully press them around the bottom of the cake. Repeat until you have gone all the way round. Top the cake as you like with freeze dried raspberries, desiccated coconut, mint sprigs and dried rosebuds. Store in an airtight container for up to five days.
Notes
This post is sponsored by Lio-Licious. Thank you for supporting the brands that allow me to continue doing what I love – playing with food and making a mess of my kitchen.
Ardis
Too pretty to eat! 🙂
Sally
This looks stunning Hannah x
Julie
Beautiful cake! I want to try this with two 20cm cake tins. Does this change how long the cakes need to be in the oven for or anything else for that matter? 🙂
hannahhossack
Hi Julie, the cakes will likely take a little longer to cook - around 30-35 minutes. Everything else should be fine to keep the same however. I hope you enjoy it!
Amy
Unbelievable recipe - I made this yesterday for my sister's birthday and it was a triumph! Delicious cake, and the best buttercream I have ever made. I can not recommend this enough - thank you.
Laura Walton
I made this yesterday Hannah, it's fantastic. Looks complicated but your recipe was perfect and everyone was really impressed. Tasted amazing and looked really pretty.
Priyanka
I want to make this for our family Christmas dinner, and I will be replacing normal flour with gluten free flour as that has always worked. I have never made buttercream using flour before, and afraid of using gluten free flour for it for the first time, just wondering if you have any alternative suggestions for the buttercream?
hannahhossack
Hi Priyanka, I think that gluten free flour would work fine in the frosting or you could also use cornstarch instead.
Pauline
Hi Hannah,
This looks fantastic and I will make it for Christmas. Just one question regarding the buttercream frosting: I noticed that you recommend to use caster sugar - could I use icing sugar instead to make it smoother? Thanks in advance!
hannahhossack
Hi Pauline, there is no need to use icing sugar - this type of frosting is almost always made with caster sugar and I've never had a problem with it not being perfectly smooth; the addition of the roux helps to dissolve the sugar. I haven't tried making it with icing sugar but I think that it would work fine if you really want to make it that way. I hope you enjoy the cake!
Teresia
This dessert is a show stopper!! I make this cake for a dinner party at my house and my friends said it was one of the best cakes they've ever had. The recipe is easy to follow as is decorating the cake. This is now on my top 5 list for desserts! You can make your own caster sugar if you don't have any on hand and I highly recommend refining it for this recipe (plus it will save you a lot of money as opposed to purchasing caster). Just run regular granulated sugar through the Cuisinart for a minute or so.
Sophie
Hi, looks amazing, I want to make this for my. Birthday Cake!
How would you turn the sponge into a vegan suitable sponge, what replacement would work best for the eggs? Many thanks
hannahhossack
Hi Sophie, Unfortunately I'm not sure what would work best in this case, I think that the recipe would probably need re-working entirely rather than making a straight swap for an egg replacer, I could be wrong however! This cake is on my list of recipes to veganise at some point though I'm not sure when that might be. In the meantime, you might like this coconut cake recipe (not mine): https://lovingitvegan.com/vegan-coconut-cake/.
Also, If you are making the raspberry buttercream then you will need to use vegetable shortening rather than a vegan butter as I think that it would split otherwise. I hope it works out for you!
Sophie Brodie
Thank you for getting back to me, in the meantime I shall try the other coconut cake. I’m planing on making this for my birthday it’s not until August so I can test other egg substitute outs and try and attempt to make it look this good!
Melissa
I am just about to start making this cake and have noticed that i have 'lighter' coconut milk in the pantry and not full fat. very annoyed that i didnt read the tin. Will this work? or do i need another trip to the shops?
.
hannahhossack
Hi Melissa, this is probably too late but I think that it should work fine with the lighter coconut milk.
Helen Davidson
Hi...
What are your thoughts on making this as a 23cm triple layer cake... How would increase the ingredients and baking time?
hannahhossack
Hi Helen, I'm not totally sure to be honest but I think that one and a half times the recipe would be about right. Baking time wise, about 25-35 minutes should do it.
merida miller
Hi Helen! Did you make it triple layer with the 20cm/8in pans? I’d like to do the same for a friends birthday but worried about the structure? Do you need to add dowels if you make something like this?
Em
Hi there,
Cake looks super amazing and I can’t wait to try it out.
Just one question though. Is the oven temperature for a conventional oven or fan oven please?
Thank you
Em
hannahhossack
Hi Em, the temperature is for a conventional oven. For a fan oven drop the temperature to 160C. I hope you enjoy the cake!
Sharon
I know you've given some quantities for the freeze dried raspberries, but how many packs of the powder, crumb and whole berries did you actually use for your cake?
hannahhossack
Hi Sharon, it was less than one packet of each (of the Liolicious ones).
Merida
So I made this cake to the recipe this morning and I only got 1- 8" cake... and it's only 1" tall. I'm so confused. Could I be missing something? The batter was also extremely thick.
hannahhossack
Hi Merida, sorry to hear that, unfortunately without being there when you baked it is is impossible for me to tell what could have gone wrong. The cake layers are on the thinner side so you could increase the recipe by half again if you want thicker layers. It may also be worth checking if your baking powder has gone bad.
Sharon Goodwin
Made this for my daughters 15th birthday yesterday and everyone thought it was scrumdiddlyumptious. To save pennies I crushed some of the whole raspberries to make a powder for the raspberry buttercream; it didn't come out as pink, but at least it was naturally coloured. I'd make half the amount next time for a 6" cake! The curd is a perfect balance to the buttercream which isn't overly sweet. Thank you for sharing :o)
Zoe
Hi, this looks incredible. I was just wondering whether the quantities are enough for all the cake layers or per layer? thank you!
hannahhossack
Hi Zoe, the quantities are for all three 15cm layers (or two 20cm ones). They are fairly thin layers so you can increase the recipe by half if you want thicker layers however.
Leanne
If I make this the day before, would you store this in the fridge and take it out how long before cutting. We are very humid here
hannahhossack
Hi Leanne, yes, if it is very humid where you are then I would store the cake in the fridge and take it out about an hour before slicing.
Carissa
Hi Hannah
Just wondering if you could make the icing using a Swiss meringue buttercream instead? I find Regular buttercream quite heavy.
hannahhossack
Hi Carissa, yes you could certainly make a swiss meringue buttercream instead, however the buttercream in the recipe is not standard buttercream, it is ermine frosting which is much lighter and less sweet than regular buttercream, it is actually quite similar to swiss meringue.
Komal
I fell in love with the recipe only:) made the cake today and even though i am not a fan of lemon curd and was skeptical about how the flavours would amalgamate but they all tasted absolutely gorgeous.. my only concern was the cake is slightly dry, i might have over baked them or as u said the texture due to coconut might be like that.. but it won’t stop me from making it again... it brought summertimes in this wet and cold day in southampton:) thank you