Coconut Cake Recipe with Meringue Toppers

This Coconut Cake Recipe is a beautiful dessert for your Easter table or anytime you want to celebrate Spring!

Spring is the season of renewal,  when nature begins to write on the blank slate that winter wiped clean. After months of dull grayness, it’s such a joy to see tender shoots of grass pushing their way toward the blue sky. Spring also brings cherry blossoms, and there’s nothing quite as lovely as watching their pink petals swirling on the breeze.

I like to bring those colors to our Easter table with this Coconut Cake Recipe. On its own, the brilliant white frosting with its layer of coconut flakes is a beautiful sight. This year, I got the idea of adding some of the pastel Meringue Cookies I’ve been keeping on hand and, wow, it came out even more lovely!

Don’t be frightened by appearances: this Coconut Cake Recipe is much easier than it looks. If you’ve had bum luck baking cakes from scratch before, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: in baking, unless stated otherwise in the recipe, you must let your ingredients reach room temperature before using them.

Why? Room temperature ingredients emulsify better and trap air in the process. Once in the oven, those air bubbles expand to create lighter, more tender cakes and cookies that also stay moister.

As far as shape, you don’t have to make a round cake. I chose to because I love my cake pans — they have a built-in cutter bar that trims and releases the cake at the same time. But you could just as easily bake this in a rectangular pan then cut it in half and stack the layers. It’s up to you!

One thing you shouldn’t mess with is the cooling time. It’s quite important that you allow the cake layers to cool completely before proceeding to trim and frost them. Rushing this step means you’re likely to tear the cake as you trim it and, of course, the frosting will just slide off of the warm cake.

Speaking of frosting…this is one of my favorite frostings ever. It’s easy and creamy, and that coconut flavor is to die for. The only problem is that I have a horrible habit of eating a spoonful here, a fingerful there. When I first started making this cake, I used to sneak so much of the frosting from the bowl that I’d have to skimp spreading it between the layers. So, I fixed that problem by increasing the amount, and now there’s plenty for all. You’re welcome.

Adding coconut flakes to the frosting is optional. If you’re using this frosting for cupcakes, you might want to leave them out then sprinkle on some coconut at the end. Me? I looooove coconut, so more is always better in my book.

Once the cake is frosted, press more coconut flakes into the frosting to give it that lovely, almost furry look. Those additional coconut flakes also help this cake retain its moisture, so any leftover cake tastes just as good the next day. It’s never made it to Day Three in our house (like I said, I looooove coconut) but since this is a cream cheese-based and cream frosting, I don’t think I’d try keeping it much longer than that, anyway.

And, of course, you don’t have to add the Meringue Cookies but I just couldn’t resist. Their colors are a perfect way to celebrate Spring!