I’ve gotten some juju back and with it, I bring to you this coconut meringue cake.
A few months ago, I faced reality and realized that I needed some help in the kitchen. My inspiration was shot, and I got to the point that I was subsisting on very sad, tasteless and uninspired “girl dinners” so have been enjoying my Green Chef recently.
If you’re in a funk, too – highly recommend.
Anyway, I spent the last weekend recharging my joy battery. We had some actual spring weather, and met up with friends, got outside, read for fun and generally stayed off of and away from the news. Also a practice I highly recommend.
As for the reading, I finally (6 months later!) got Ina’s new book from the library and couldn’t put it down. I love origin stories and memoirs, and hers was a goodie. I mean, who doesn’t love Ina?
In reading about her career and food journey, I found a little bit of inspiration on my own and got back into the kitchen to make this cake.
Like some of my other favorite foodie memoirs, the authors sneak recipes in here and there and one such from Ina was her coconut cupcakes. Apparently, they were all the rage at Barefoot Contessa and so I figured I’d whip up a batch…with a few modifications.
Her original recipe is for coconut cupcakes made with a very buttery base and a cream cheese frosting. While that sounded delish- that’s a VERY heavy dessert and I just wasn’t into that. I toyed with a few other different frosting options and opted for a meringue. I was doubtful that it would go, but found a few trusted sources on the internet pairing a similar butter cake + meringue and went for it.
How did I change the original recipes?
I turned Ina’s cupcakes into a 6” round, 3-layer cake and eliminated the almond extract because ..no (if you’ve been around long enough you know how I feel about almond extract- ew.)
I used Alton Brown’s frosting which actually used coconut water in the meringue. Interesting! And I eliminated the coconut extract from it. While I love coconut extract in chocolate things, I think if shining on its own, it can be overpowering and fake tasting.
When frosting this, I wasn’t convinced it was going to work. However, I let it sit a few hours in the fridge and it turned out my fears were unwarranted. I even got a very enthusiastic text from Mom (I sent my brother home with half of the cake after our hike) saying how much she liked it.
What do I need to make a coconut meringue cake?
- Flour, sugar, eggs and salt – the usuals
- Buttermilk for tang
- Lots of sweetened, shredded coconut for the inside and out
Ready to give it a go?
Coconut Meringue Cake
Equipment
- 3 6" round cake pans
- kitchen scale
Ingredients
For the cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 7 ounces shredded, sweetened coconut
For the frosting
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup coconut water
- ½ tsp cream of tarter
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 cups shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F. Line 3 6" round cake pans with parchment and butter. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl using a hand mixer, add the butter and sugar and beat for five minutes on high until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Turn the mixer to low speed and alternate adding the flour mixture with the buttermilk. Start and end with the dry ingredients. Fold in the coconut until all well combined.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the three pans, using a kitchen scale if you have one to ensure that each round gets the same amount of batter.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing, and let continue cooling on a cooling rack. Wait to frost until completely cooled. Once cool, level the cake layers using a serrated knife.
- When the cake has cooled, make the frosting. Bring about 2 inches of water to a boil in a 4-quart saucepan over high heat. Decrease heat to medium-low to until simmering. Place the egg whites, sugar, coconut water, cream of tartar, and salt into a mixing bowl, making sure that the mixture has room to grow. Place the bowl over the simmering water, making a double boiler, and using a hand mixer set to low speed, beat for 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and keep beating five minutes until it has stiffed and has quadrupled in size. ,Remove from the heat and add the vanilla, and beat for another 1 minute. Let the frosting sit before frosting the cake.
- Frost the cake by putting 1/3 cup of frosting on the cake and sprinkle with about 1/4 cup coconut. Repeat with the remaining layers. Using all remaining frosting to cover the cake entirely, and cover with remaining sweetened coconut. Put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow frosting to set.
- Before serving, bring to room temperature. Enjoy!